


Legally In Love

by jjuu1l



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, F/M, First Kiss, Getting Together, It's not the same plot but like almost, Legally Blonde AU, M/M, as slow of a burn as i can write, but its so good so can you blame me?, eventually, kinda slow burn, probably angst, very much based off the musical
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2019-06-22 22:27:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15592143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jjuu1l/pseuds/jjuu1l
Summary: Stupid Warner. Stupid Harvard Law School. Stupid seriousness.Mitchell Woods has spent the last three years expecting to spend the rest of his life with Warner Huntington III. But when Warner breaks up with him saying he's not serious enough, Mitchell makes it his mission to win him back. On the way he meets Connor Stoll, a TA with a child's heart and gorgeous curls.His first year at Harvard Law will be an interesting one.





	1. What you want, Warner, what you want is me!

**Author's Note:**

> Should I have plunged myself into a multi-chapter monster?  
> No.  
> Did I do it anyways?  
> Yes.  
> Please enjoy! Please leave a comment about what you think will happen and what plot points from Legally Blonde you think will be implemented!

           “Wait, what do you mean Warner broke up with Mitchell? He did _what?_ ” A voice that sounded suspiciously like a girl who was not supposed to be back until next week. Mitchell loved his sisters, he really did, but if they kept bringing up his sad love life then he was going to throw them out of a window.

            It was bad enough that he’d been stupid enough to think that Warner was planning to propose to him and instead be broken up with. But having his entire house and have all his sisters and brothers know about it? That was _so_ much worse.

            “Mitchell Woods open up this door right now!” He heard his sister Piper pounding on his door, with Lacy’s nervous mumbling coming through in between her vicious knocks. It was a pipe dream that Piper wouldn’t want answers when she’d come back from visiting her dad. “I will burn the pair of Giuseppe Zanotti sandals you let me borrow if you do not open this door right now!”

            For a fraction of a second he considered just staying under his covers. Just letting the world outside of his room fade away into nothing more than a memory. It would be pretty easy, he had a full package of plastic water bottles stored under his bed in case of emergencies, and several bags of various candies he’d bought in an emotional haze. He could make it a while before he really needed to go out and restock.

            Then he remembered how much those shoes had cost.

            “Give me my sandals.” The look of horror on Piper and Lacy’s face was enough to make him consider never coming out of his room again. Though, his room did seem to be the reason behind their disgust.

            “What happened here?” Lacy asked, her voice a mixture of fear and awe. He completely understood her fear though.

            His room looked like a hurricane had torn everything apart. Which wasn’t too far off from what had happened. Candy wrappers were scattered across the floor and his comforter. Pictures of him and Warner were in various states of torn up or wet from tears or ruined from what might’ve been fire but that he definitely would not admit was fire. There were pillows and clothes thrown about in a very unattractive way, something he would’ve nearly screamed about just a week prior.

            But he was not the same person that he was a week prior.

            “Oh sweetheart,” Piper cooed, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around Mitchell. It was easy to let her envelope him in warmth and love. To let all his feelings, rise again to the surface and threaten to pour out of him in a tidal wave of emotions and tears. They stood there for several seconds before he pulled himself back and wiped away his tears. He nodded and moved back to his bed, wrapping his comforter back around his shoulders.

            Stupid Warner. Stupid Harvard Law School. Stupid seriousness.

            Piper followed him, sitting down across from him. Taking his hand rubbing circles on his knuckles. Lacy trailed behind her positioning herself in the perfect place to cuddle Mitchell. He always loved Lacy’s ability to know just how to comfort him without words. She was a blessing in the form of a freshman college student who drank too much coffee. Without words she pulled her hair out of her ponytail and allowed him to start braiding it.

            And he explained why exactly he was hiding away in his room.

            _He’d been so excited. His brothers and sisters had helped him pick out an outfit that he would look back on with pride. Warner had told him that tonight was going to be the start of everything. They’d gone out to a restaurant that in his research had told him that several proposals took place there on a weekly basis. It was more difficult to go there and not see a proposal than to see one._

_“You know that I asked you here to discuss our future, don’t you Elle?” He’d asked setting down his champagne glass. The waiter had just filled both of their glasses, and Mitchell could feel the moment coming. He nodded his head in agreement. They were going to start their future together! “You realize that Harvard is going to be, so, so different from right now. And that if I’m going to be a senator by the time I’m thirty that I’m going to need to make some changes, don’t you?”_

_“I do, and I will fully support you in whatever you do. You have to know that Warner.”_

_“And I’m glad that you know, it makes me feel so relieved that you this won’t come as a shock to you.” Warner had said, holding Mitchell’s hand across the table. He could remember thinking about how excited Warner was if he was going to propose before their food had even arrived. Oh, what a fool he had been. “I thought that we would get here, then I’d take one look at you and not be able to do it.”_

_“I think that making this easy will be the best thing for both of us.” He’d responded, and a wave of relief flooded across Warner’s face. He’d started rubbing circles onto Mitchell’s hand, before pulling away._

_“Then there are no hard feelings about us breaking up?” The glass shattered around Mitchell’s entire life. He could hear the shards cascading down from the heavens and crashing into the ground. Considering the look on Warner’s face, Mitchell guessed that he had heard the glass shattering as well. Or, he was realizing that this whole, ‘oh I’m breaking up with you’ joke wasn’t very funny._

_“What do you mean you’re breaking up with me?” And maybe he’d been a little over dramatic in the moment._

_Actually, no, you know what? He wasn’t being overdramatic. Because who in their right-fucking-mind takes their boyfriend of three years to an incredibly fancy restaurant a few months before you’re both set to graduate to_ break up with them _? A god damned fucking sociopath! That’s who! Someone who wanted to see Mitchell break down in tears and storm out of the restaurant._

_“Elle,” He’d cooed, like somehow using pet names was going to fix everything. “What did you think was going to happen tonight?”_

_“I thought- I thought you were going to propose!” From a few tables over, he overheard someone suck in a breath and whisper ‘oh shit, he fucked up’. A statement that Mitchell agreed with whole heartedly._

            _“Oh, I talked about it with my parents but if I’m going to be a senator by the time I’m thirty, well, then I need to marry a Jackie, not a Marilyn, or well, in your case a Prince.” He laughed, he LAUGHED! Mitchell could feel his blood boiling in his veins, tears fighting their way out of him. Dropping onto the table like raindrops._

_“What does that mean? I’m not a Jackie?” The words left his mouth like rocks, heavy, and angry. Yet they didn’t seem to affect Warner in the slightest._

_“Well, my family expects a lot from me! My sister and her fiancé just graduated from Yale, and my family only tolerates her fiancé because she’s a Vanderbilt! Marriage has never been in the cards for us, I thought you understood that. You’re just not the serious type of person I’m looking for.” He could feel the tears streaming down his face, hot and wet. Ruining his mascara and probably making him look like a damn raccoon as he pushed his chair back. Causing the legs to squeak loudly on the tile floor. “Elle, baby-”_

_“No! You don’t get to call me that anymore.” He snatched his clutch up from the table and turned and stomped out of the restaurant. He could hear the whispers filled with pity as he slammed the front doors shut._

“Oh, Mitchell, I’m so sorry.” Piper looked ready to murder someone, a look that Mitchell thoroughly enjoyed. Part of him wanted to act on that murderous rage but thought better of it after a few more seconds. He needed to be the bigger man here. Or, at least less petty than he wanted to be.

            He shook his head, leaning over and undoing the plait he’d done in Lacy’s hair. She looked better with curls anyway. They framed her face much better than flyaways ever could.

            While he’d been braiding Lacy had picked up his copy of Home and Country. Flipping through the pages without much interest, she was more of a National Geographic fan herself. But one page seemed to catch her eye as she let out a quiet gasp. With quick movements she did the least sketchy thing she could’ve done in that moment and chucked the magazine across the room.

            Something that caught both his and Piper’s attention.

            “Lace, babe, what did you see in there?” He wondered aloud, his eyes wandering to the wall where the offending magazine lay on top of his vanity. It had knocked over several of his makeup brushes, though that ranked lower on the list of things he was worried about at the moment.

            “Nothing! It’s uh- I just saw a spider on the page?” Her voice jumped three octaves and Mitchell knew that he had to see what was on that page. Lacy must’ve sensed this because she spread herself out as wide as possible over Mitchell and turned to Piper and yelled, “Get the magazine!”

            From there it became a battle to see who could get to the magazine first. Lacy, being incredibly tiny and lightweight, was easy to push off, landing on the floor with a solid thud. Piper would be a harder fought battle.

            He stood up on his bed and shot forward, tackling her to the ground. From a room over he heard someone yelling at them to be quieter, but he didn’t listen. He _needed_ to see what was in that magazine. He was halfway across the room when Piper attacked in the worst way possible.

She went for his secret tickle spot.

            “Pipes! What- the- hell!” He scolded in between gasps and giggles. By this time Lacy had recovered and sprinted across the room to his vanity. Where she tripped over his rug and tumbled into the wall just to the left of his vanity rather than getting the magazine.

            “Lacy are you okay?” Piper let him go in favor of checking on Lacy. Giving him the opportunity that he needed.

            Lacy let out an incredibly dramatic cry of ‘Noo!’ as he picked up the magazine and began flipping through the pages. Which was when his door slammed open.

            He only knew one person who could slam a door open. And Drew stood in the doorway with a face mask on that made her look like a cat. Though the face mask did nothing to ease the terrifying aura she gave off.

            “Are you three seriously fighting over a _magazine?_ ” She growled, stalking over to Mitchell. With one swift movement she stole the magazine from his grasp and flipped through it with the skill of someone accustomed to looking at magazines. “What in this could be- Oh, oh shit.”

            She looked up from the magazine and suddenly Mitchell understood why Lacy and Piper were fighting him so hard. Whatever was in that magazine would probably send him into another shame spiral.

            “Will someone please just tell me what’s in that magazine!” He demanded, his hand extended for the magazine in question.

            “There’s an article that’s-”

            “Drew don’t!”

            “If he wants to know then I’m going to tell him. There’s no use in pulling punches, we can’t just protect him from the whole world!” She looked down at the magazine with disdain. “This is an article about Muffy Vanderbilt and Laura Huntington’s engagement.” Drew held out the magazine, with Laura and Muffy posed together with an article describing their plans for the future right next to them.

            Laura Huntington and her fiancé Muffy Vanderbilt, it read, have just graduated as Valedictorian and Salutatorian of their class. The two plan to marry sometime next year after starting up their jobs at Themia and Dike Associates this fall. The two have a successful future ahead of them as they continue their path together. Everyone at-

            “This is the kind of person Warner wants.” His words sounded hollow as he pointed to Muffy. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lacy and Piper exchange worried looks, while Drew kept her eyes trained on his death grip on the magazine. “He wants someone serious, someone lawyerly. This is the person I need to become to get him back!”

            “Get him back, but-” He cut Piper off, she had never needed to worry about getting a man back. They always fell for her as easy as signing themselves up for heartbreak.

            “No buts! I need to do this!” He insisted.

            “Mitchell are you sure? You majored in Fashion Merchandising!” Lacy was right. But-

            “I have a 4.0, that’s good enough for Harvard. Isn’t it?”

            “Is this what you really want Mitch?” Drew asked, leaning against his doorframe. She’d been accepted into Yale earlier that year and planned on showing Harvard just what it was missing by not accepting her. “You want to throw away the rest of your senior spring to chase after a man that left you heartbroken? To try and get into one of the top Law school’s in the entire country with three months before summer starts? You want to go to Harvard?”

            He nodded. “I love him, and I know if he can just see how serious I am, that he’ll come back to me.” She stared at him for a few more seconds before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a pen.

            “Harvard is going to be begging for you once we’re done here.” After a few moments of reluctance, Piper and Lacy stood up and stretched. Discussing studying schedules and what they could do to help.

            He loved his sisters so much.


	2. Harvard's the Perfect Place for Me!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Welcome to your first day of Criminal 101. You might’ve heard the joke that a lawyer is a shark.”   
> “Well you shouldn’t listen to it, that joke is simplistic and dumb. Because only some of you will become sharks, the others will become chum.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the thing. This is a Legally Blonde Au, and I know that in a lot of Aus they tend to closely follow the original story line. 
> 
> That's not the case here, partially because it's a mix of the Movie and Musical, and partially because these characters aren't the closest to the OG Legally Blonde Characters. So, for a lot of this it's going to hit some of the same plot points, such as Warner and Mitchell breaking up, Mitchell getting into Harvard, and such, but the actions aren't going to be exactly the same.
> 
> Also, slight spoiler, if you were looking forward to seeing who I would put in Paulette's place, don't be. That character is just so amazing that I didn't want to mold a different character to fit into her spot.
> 
> Anyways, please enjoy!

            Harvard was more monotoned than he’d originally thought. Filled with dark blues, blacks, and ugly browns. If these people had the smarts and devotion to get to Harvard, didn’t they have the sense to dress better than they were? He’d only seen one person who wasn’t wearing something that he would normally see at a funeral.

            “Voting green is the only way we’re going to get out of- and they left. Awesome.” She complained, falling forward and allowing her head to slam into the desk that her and a group of students had been standing by. Even from so far away Mitchell could feel the disinterest as the other students left her.

            And, if he was honest, he didn’t want to talk to her. It was her outfit that really brought him up to her.

            Unlike most of the other students, she was wearing a pair of overalls tastefully covered in paint stains, and holes. She’d lived in those things, he could tell by the way she looked absolutely at home in them. The shirt was a different story, it looked like she had thrown on the first graphic t-shirt she had that was clean and got lucky that it matched with her outfit.

            “If you make one more comment on how I look like a tree hugging hippy I swear to- oh, you’re not wearing a suit.” She gave him a very obvious once over before squinting up at him. Which she only had to do because he’d worn his platform shoes.

            What? Being tall helped with his confidence!

            “And you’re somehow pulling off crocs.” He commented, somewhat jealous because meeting someone who could pull of crocs was like meeting someone who thought that not wearing a bra while working out was a good idea. Incredibly rare and someone his sisters would envy.

            She raised an eyebrow at him like he was pulling an incredibly elaborate prank on her. Before she had the chance to respond their teacher, Mr. Callahan, walked up to the front of the classroom and smiled at everyone.

            It was a terrifying smile.

            He and all the other students raced to their seats. He ended up across the room from the girl in overalls, which was truly a shame, he really wanted to know where she’d gotten her overalls. They were adorable!

            “Welcome to your first day of Criminal 101. You might’ve heard the joke that a lawyer is a shark.” Mitchell had heard that joke from his parents when he asked them to pay for him when he would eventually get into Harvard. They’d told him that lawyers were sharks, and that they were an entirely different species than the people she knew and loved back in Malibu. But that had only made him more determined to get into Harvard. To succeed. “Well you shouldn’t listen to it, that joke is simplistic and dumb. Because only some of you will become sharks, the others will become chum.”

            A nervous laugh spread through the room, but their teacher didn’t laugh.

            A person that Mitchell assumed was their TA hurried forward with a clipboard and paper. He was an inch or two shorter than Mr. Callahan, with curly hair that Mitchell wanted to run his hands through. Like the girl, he was wearing a few different colors, but not enough to distinguish himself from the crowd. It was as if he were trying to fit in, but he wasn’t dressing by the same dress code as everyone else.

            “Mr. Andrew let’s say your client-” He zoned off as he searched around the room to try and find Warner. Somehow Mitchell hadn’t seen him in the half hour he’d spent scouring the halls for him. It was like Warner was avoiding him, even though he didn’t even know they were now going to the same school!

            It took a few minutes of scouring before he’d finally spotted Warner across the room. He was sitting a couple seats away from the blonde he’d been talking to earlier. Next to him was a pretty brunette with a bob that definitely needed a little work. She looked like several of the female students he’d already seen. But something about her stood out to him, though he couldn’t place what it was.

            “Mr. Woods,” He was snapped out of his day dreams by Mr. Callahan’s voice. It didn’t sound too stern, so he assumed his teacher hadn’t called out his name more than once. “Can you please summarize the case of the State of Indiana v. Vern from your assigned reading?”

            “Oh, who assigns reading for the first day of class?” Mitchell laughed turning to the student to his left, expecting to see him laughing as well. But he wasn’t. Instead, the student to his left looked utterly terrified.

            “You’ve got guts Mr. Woods. Mrs. Kensington let’s say you work as a Criminal Law professor at Harvard. A job you are incredibly proud of, and the man upon who you call, has neglected to read the case assigned. Would you let it go or-” Ms. Kensington was the girl with the brown bob who was sitting next to Warner. But now when Mitchell looked over at her, she looked much more like a vampire than a human.

            “No, I’d kick him out.” Mitchell felt a knife stab right through his heart. Had she really just said that?

            “You heard her Mr. Woods. Yes, you have guts, but today they’ve been spilled. I hope you’ll be better prepared for next class.” His smile was like a snake’s. Not entirely true and unnerving. Mitchell couldn’t help the shiver of fear that ran down his spine as he left the classroom.

            Just outside he finally caught his breath, just in time for the boy with curls to walk out after him.

            “Hey, I got kicked out of class all the time for stupid jokes. Don’t worry, your law career isn’t over.” He awkwardly patted Mitchell on the back.

            “Oh, my law career isn’t what I’m worried about right now. I just need to get back in there, can you help me out?” And he would be lying if he said that he hadn’t poured just a little bit of his natural charm into his question. But judging by the way the curly haired boy reacted, it might’ve worked.

            “Read the case, keep the pranks and jokes out of class, and you’ll be fine.” He replied, sounding a bit like he didn’t believe he was having this conversation. Then again, Mitchell couldn’t believe he was having this conversation either. Who just kicked college students out of their class? He turned to head back inside.

            “Oh, wait, what’s your name?” Mitchell asked, and the boy turned back to him. Extending his hand with a smile like the devil’s himself. This was the kind of man who could steal your house from you and sell it back for double the price.

            “Connor, Connor Stoll.” Mitchell couldn’t help his laugh.

            “So, you’re telling me that you’re a lawyer Mr. Stoll?” Connor did not look very impressed by Mitchell’s joke. Which was understandable, Mitchell knew what it was like growing up with an unfortunate name.

            Woods? Too close to wood, and too easy to misinterpret.

            “Very funny, like I haven’t heard that one before.” Connor muttered under his breath, but Mitchell was still holding his hand and heard him.

            “Well Connor, with a name like Stoll you must have a very easy time stealing hearts.” The change in him was immediate. His face colored red faster than Drew had thrown out Lacy’s attempt at baked Alaska. The poor darling couldn’t cook to save her own life.

            “Uh, you’re not getting extra credit for flirting with the TA.” Mitchell laughed at his assumption.

            “Oh sweetheart, I’m not flirting, just stating the obvious.” He shrugged letting go of Connor’s hand. Closer up Mitchell could see freckles that were absolutely adorable, unlike his own that tended to show up in scattered clumps on his forehead. Connor’s were perfectly spread out in a tiny bridge over his nose and across his face.

            His eyebags could use some work though. A good concealer would work wonders for him.

            Before he had the chance to respond a couple of students spilled out of the classroom, signaling the fact that class had either ended or he wasn’t the only one to be thrown out of class today. He hoped that it was the latter.

            “I guess I’ll see you in class tomorrow, remember to do the reading.” He ran a hand through his hair, backing up. Straight into the wall.

            This coaxed a laugh out of Mitchell, a real laugh, one where he snorted. He’d spent too long to not snort in front of people, and here he was laughing like a piglet in front of his new TA. Today was _not_ going to plan. Instead of embarrassing himself further by seeing what his TA thought of his laugh, he adjusted his bag and started down the hallway.

            “Mitchell, is that really you?” It was! It was really him!

            Mitchell turned around, with minimal posing, and waved at Warner. He looked even more attractive here than he usually did. Maybe it was the blazer that Mitchell knew for a fact that they’d bought together last year, or maybe it was the ‘serious’ way in which he was now holding himself.

            Mitchell was pretty damn sure it was the blazer.

            “Hey Warner! I totally forgot that you go here too! What a crazy coincidence.” He smiled up at him, somehow still shorter than Warner despite his shoes. Warner looked him up and down like it’d been years since they’d last seen each other. Which was what it felt like, despite the distance Mitchell could feel his heart soaring, and now being so close to Warner again? He felt like his heart was going to sprout wings and fly out of his chest.

            “I- when did you get accepted into Harvard? I thought you were moving back to Malibu with some of your sorority sisters, and you were going to open up a boutique.” Which was definitely not what his plan had been. They’d briefly discussed starting a non-profit together, dedicated to teaching children how to correctly put on makeup. Though that had happened when they’d all been incredibly drunk and was more of a joke than anything else.

            “Warner, baby, it’s not a sorority, it’s a gender-neutral housing unit that Piper and I-” Warner interrupted by waving his hand, continuing on with his own words.

            “Elle, you don’t really think that-”

            “Warner, do you have something to share with ‘Elle’, or can we head back to my dorm?” It was the Ms. Kensington girl from earlier, only now he could see her entirely. Only to find she looked like everyone else, a black pencil skirt paired with a gray tank top and black blazer. The only interesting thing about her was her shoes, and even those were black!

            “Warner, how do you know her?” He asked, and Warner looked guilty. Why would he look guilty? Unless…

            “This is Vivian, we went to boarding school together. She’s my girlfriend.” Was he being serious? Warner couldn’t be, they’d only just broke up a couple months ago and they’d dated for years! It took him several months to ‘go on dates’, and he’d only done that to prove to his dad that the only reason he was going to Harvard wasn’t just to win back Warner. Even though it was.

            “Oh, it’s nice to meet you.” He extended his hand out to Vivian. She glared at it like it was a knock off Prada bag.

            “I’m going to head to my car, I’ll see you there.” With the grace of a cat she turned her back on the two of them and stalked back towards a 2015 Honda Accord. It like everything else was a disgusting gray that he wanted to burn.

            The rest of their classmates had dispersed by them, the only other people he saw around was Overalls and Connor. They were huddled together in the corner talking about something that he couldn’t hear.

            “I’ll see you around Mitchell.” He waved and walked after Vivian. Mitchell couldn’t find a reason to call after him and found himself watching Warner leave.

            But that didn’t matter. Warner still didn’t realize how serious he was, but Mitchell would prove himself. He would get his man, ace his classes, and their wedding would be absolutely gorgeous.

 

“What do you think of that Woods kid?” Katie asked leaning on him, watching him play candy crush on his phone. He doesn’t know when they became friends, maybe after she started dating his brother? Maybe after she applied to Harvard and showed up at his apartment in tears wishing that she had just gone to community college like her mom had suggested? Maybe it was when he came out to her and she immediately called him out for having a crush on the valedictorian of his graduating class as a response.

            In all honesty he hadn’t thought much about Mitchell Woods. Not beyond the way he seemed so uninterested in class and looked like he could model for any fashion company.

            “I’m not entirely sure if he’s going to make it through the year.” Connor admitted. Callahan was a hard-enough class to pass with the serious students, and Mitchell didn’t seem to be able to be serious to save his life. He seemed more interesting in flirting and following around that Warner Huntington guy. Poor kid’s parents were going to waste all their money on paying for a semester that Mitchell probably wouldn’t even finish.

            “I hope he does, he seems nice. He told me that I somehow pull off crocs.” Connor glanced down at Katie’s crocs, something he’d teased her about mercilessly. In all honesty she did wear them well. Never making them the focal point of her outfit, using them sparingly.

            “Well, if he keeps on acting like he did today, then he won’t.” He swiped a yellow candy left in between for other yellow candies and celebrated briefly at the luck. Beside him he could practically feel Katie rolling her eyes. “What? He won’t! Callahan doesn’t even like when the girl students flirt with him, he’ll hate when Mitchell does it.”

            “You’re just saying that because you want him to flirt with you.” She responded stealing away his phone as he lost another life. Katie had always been better at this game than he’d been. “Besides, I don’t think he’s flirting just to flirt. I think that’s just like, how he is, one of those people who’re always positive and spread it and shit.”

            She finished the level and passed his phone back over to him. How was she so good at Candy Crush?

            “It’s not like that. I just don’t want to have him show up on my doorstep half way through the semester crying about how he doesn’t want to drop out and he expects me to fix for him.” Connor replied, though he doubted that that would happen. Besides being flirty Mitchell had also seemed quite determined when he’d been talking to Warner. Maybe if he could focus that determination into his classes he’d pass.

            “Sure dude, sure,” Katie responded, like she didn't believe him in the slightest. Connor didn't blame her.


	3. You Know We're Right, We're Positive!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Mitchell you do-”
> 
> “Don’t do that-”
> 
> “Bye! Love you guys!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I would be lying if I said that I didn't totally forget about this fic in the last couple of days, but I'm starting a new job, and school just started back up so I have been busy. I'll probably be updating this fic weekly as I finish new chapters and figure how to balance out everything.  
> Thank you for Reading! Enjoy!

            “Hey Con! How’re classes going?” Lacy looked incredibly alive despite her constant tweets about how college was going to kill her without her favorite seniors. She’d inherited his room along with their sibling Ann, who was still quite nervous about their whole ‘pseudo sorority’ vibe.

            “Law school is killing me.” He groaned into his pillow. On his laptop screen Lacy was frowning at him, while Piper was in another corner staring intensely at a spot just off camera. If he had to guess she was glaring at her long-term boyfriend who was currently moving her into an apartment a few blocks away from the police academy he was training at.

            “Well you are studying at Harvard Law. It’s not exactly Ms. Dobb’s Algebra 701.” Piper commented, waving at someone off camera. Lacy nodded in agreement even though she’d never had to take Ms. Dobb’s algebra class. Behind her Ann moved their head into frame just enough that their dark hair was visible.

            “You’re at Harvard Law?” They asked, and Lacy turned to nod at them, before motioning for them to join her on her bed.

            “Unfortunately, and Warner doesn’t even respond to my texts to study together! It’s like he doesn’t even care.” Mitchell complained raising his head up off his pillow. Lacy and Piper barely contained their gasps at his face.

            For the first time in five years he hadn’t bothered to put on makeup that morning. He’d been late! And Callahan already hated him, so what was the point? It hadn’t helped that Connor had stared at him that morning and it distracted him so much that he walked into a wall! Yes, he looked different without makeup, but it wasn’t like he was _that_ bad looking. Granted, even Warner hadn’t seen him without at least concealer in their few years of dating.

            “Well, he does have a girlfriend now. Wouldn’t you think it was shady that he started studying with his ex-boyfriend of several years?” Drew pondered finally showing up in front of her camera, momentarily blocking the view of her Beyoncé poster they’d gotten at a concert the year before. It was the last poster the venue had, she’d fought a drunk guy for it. She was Mitchell’s hero.

            “Stop being so logical.” He groaned smashing his face back into his pillow.

            How was he going to win Warner back like this? He wasn’t. He needed a new plan.

            “Well, what does his girlfriend look like? Maybe you should replicate her look and he’ll pay more attention?” Ann commented leaning their head against Lacy’s shoulder.

            Then it hit him. Being blonde was what made him stand out. If he wanted to get Warner’s attention, then he needed to change that.

            “I need to go brunette!” He announced jumping up. If he was remembering correctly, there was a salon a few blocks away from the school. And if he ran then he might make it there before they closed! He could, and would get Warner’s attention, no matter what it took.

            “Mitchell you do-”

            “Don’t do that-”

            “Bye! Love you guys!” He announced slamming his laptop lid shut. When he got back he could worry about whether or not he broke his laptop when he got back. Right now, he needed to get to that salon. Was it on Fifth street or Eighth?

 

            “You want me to do what to your hair?” She asked giving Mitchell a look that meant she absolutely did not want to dye his hair. But Mitchell held his ground and explained that he needed to be a brunette, and now. He was even willing to pay extra for keeping them out late. “Okay, if that’s really what you want. Let me go get the dye.”

            He sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. This would all be over soon, and he would win Warner back, and it would all end in a Happily Ever After.

            “Mitchell Woods?” The voice was familiar enough that he recognized it, but distant enough that he couldn’t place the name. He opened his eyes.

It was Overalls.

            “Overalls.” He responded, seeing the girl who managed to pull off crocs. She was still wearing black crocs, but this time paired with a pair of denim capri pants and a Hawaiian shirt cut into a crop top underneath a black smock. She managed to pull off everything she wore, and it was starting to drive him insane. So, he closed his eyes and listened as she settled in next to him.

            “Katie actually, only my parents call me Overalls.” She joked, and Mitchell laughed, careful to keep the snort inside. Ever since he’d slipped up in front of Connor he had continued to slip whenever he laughed. “What’re you doing here?”

            “I’m dying my hair, I need to be serious and this is the only way that I’m going to be taken seriously.” He listened for a disapproving sigh, or maybe even an annoyed grunt like he’d heard from his siblings earlier. But nothing came besides a hum of understanding. “What? You’re not going to tell me that I should stay true to myself and not dye my hair?”

            “It’s not my choice,” She replied and just to his left he could hear the other hairdresser arrive with some tools. “if this is what you think you need to be taken serious then do it. But you need to be ready for what happens if doesn’t change anything.” Which was sound advice. But he knew for a fact that it would, it had too!

            The first few strokes of hair dye felt strange in his hair but after a while it was soothing. Until-

            “Mitchell, if you want to be taken seriously, why are you going for such a bright color?” Katie asked, confusion obvious in her voice. His eyes shot open and he looked up to see his hairdresser looking down at him. Horrified.

            He turned around, looking for a mirror. Almost fainting when he saw his reflection.

            “Why is my hair pink?” Even to his own ears his voice sounded shrill and panicky. Almost like that time Drew had tried to calm herself down after being rejected from Harvard. He spun back to the hairdresser and saw her staring at the bottle of hair dye, also horrified. She turned to Katie and pointed to the bottle’s label. The bowl next to her was a pastel pink dye, which on its own would be gorgeous. But it was in his hair. That was supposed to be brunette.

            “It says Honey Auburn! I thought it was Honey Auburn! I- I-” And Mitchell knew that something must’ve been off because the poor hairstylist was freaking out. Pointing to the bottle like it’d tricked her, and Katie was trying to calm her down. “I’m so, so, sorry, I’m colorblind I didn’t realize- I-”

            “It’s okay, you didn’t mean too. But how are we going to fix this?” He asked, and gestured up to his hair, which was half pastel pink and half blonde. Definitely not the best hairstyle he’d ever gone for, then again there was that time he’d tried to pull off a lip ring and a mohawk.

            Katie nodded and whispered to the hairstylist to go in the back room and calm down. The poor girl nodded, looking disoriented and walked off towards the back. Then Katie gestured for Mitchell to take his seat again.

            He followed her lead and took a deep breath as she continued to mess with his hair.

            “Will she be okay?” He asked in a small voice. She’d appeared to be shaking as she wandered off and he hoped she wasn’t too shaken up. A few of his siblings had worked in retail and would come home nearly in tears from unjustly angry customers. From then on, he’d made a conscious effort to treat retail workers as well as he could. After all, they were humans just like he was, and they made mistakes just like he did. They didn’t deserve anger over every trivial thing. “I didn’t mean to scare her. Would she be okay if I tried to apologize? Or would it be bad for her to see me again?”

            “She’ll be okay. And I’m not sure that apologizing right now would be the best thing for either of you.” She replied in a voice just as soft as his own. As if she was considering him in a whole new light. Which he could understand, he had just yelled at one of her coworkers. It was fair of her to be upset.

            The minutes passed by like hours, with each one feeling increasingly exhausting. All he wanted was to go back to his dorm and sleep until Monday morning. He was partially glad he’d chosen tonight to get his hair done. Then he’d only have one day to consider how to hide his new hair rather than worrying about it for two days.

            Even as he sat there he could only imagine how Warner would react.

            “Why do you think being a brunette would change the way people view you?” She asked after a while of silence. She’d migrated to the back of his head, and Mitchell could practically feel the pink dye in his hair.

            “Well, Warner’s dating Vivian, and she has dark hair, and so does he. And apparently they’re serious enough for him.” He explained, only receiving an amused huff in response. “What?”

            “You’re changing yourself for a boy who is dating another person. Do you really think that he’ll just up and leave her if you show up with dark hair one day?” He nodded. “Well, if he leaves her just because you have brunette hair, what happens if she changes up her hair? What if he leaves you because he wants a blonde then?”

            He frowns, because logically that makes sense. If he could so easily sway Warner away from this girl, how could he trust that Warner wouldn’t be easily swayed back?

            “Because we have history.” He finally replied, after several minutes of thinking. They had dated for several years! That couldn’t just be for nothing! He didn’t spend three years with Warner, the love of his life, just to give up because he thought he had to date someone else to be taken seriously. Mitchell was ready to fight for Warner’s love, until his last breath.

            “I guess that makes sense. I know that if my ex tried to get me back I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.” She admitted, and slowly Mitchell felt the atmosphere change into something friendlier, more vulnerable. “We weren’t good together, but I thought that he was the only one for me. Then he left, and I had to pick up all the pieces. That was almost four years ago.”

            When she went quiet once more Mitchell didn’t know what to say. How do you respond to something like that? Say you’re sorry? So, he didn’t say anything, he just moved to the washing station once she tapped on his shoulder. After a while he could feel the tension leave the room, he was so relaxed that he almost fell asleep. Something he’d been having trouble with for weeks now.

            “Hey? Katie? Are you almost ready to- oh, hey Mitchell?” His voice came from across the salon and almost scared Mitchell out of his chair. Luckily Katie must’ve seen Connor coming and turned the water off. Which resulted in less water being sprayed everywhere, something Mitchell was eternally grateful for. “You look- woah, that’s really pink.”

            “Oh, that reminds me.” Katie announced, handing Mitchell a towel and walking over to where Connor was standing. He looked terrified as Katie raised her fist and punched him in the arm. “If Travis ever pulls something like this again I will charge him with intention to cause bodily harm and take him to court.” She gestured back to Mitchell, who waved awkwardly.

            He looked like an adorable little puppy as he glanced from Katie to Mitchell.

            “He changed the label on some of our dye bottles.” His mouth formed a small O as his eyes widened. It was incredibly adorable. He was like a tiny puppy who was just experiencing the world for the first time.

            “Now I’m no longer a blonde, I’m a pink-ette.” Mitchell added standing up, drying his hair as he walked back over to Katie and Connor.

            Unlike usual Connor looked comfortable, which was strange because what he was wearing wasn’t all that different from his usual attire. He had on a worn band t-shirt that Mitchell guessed he wore often because he remembered that band announcing it’s tour a year or two before. Paired with ripped jeans that fit his legs sinfully well. If Mitchell wasn’t focused so much on getting Warner back he would’ve allowed himself to look longer, but he was, so he didn’t.

            Instead he handed the towel back to Katie and tried to focus on something else.

            “I’m guessing your goal wasn’t pink?” Connor asked with a raised eyebrow.

            “You’re guessing correctly.” He replied shooting 6him finger guns. Katie covered her mouth with her hand before turning to walk back to where they’d been dying his hair. “The goal was Honey Auburn, but we’ll make this work.” Connor opened his mouth like he was going to say something before closing it again. They stood in awkward silence for a few more seconds before Katie came back.

            She glanced between the two of them before rolling her eyes. “That’ll be $20,” She held out her hand expectantly and Mitchell felt for his wallet.

            “I thought the sign said $30?” He wondered aloud handing over the money. She took it and headed over to the register, putting it up and then locking it in the process.

            “It does, but we also did dye your hair an entirely different color from what you asked for.” She pointed out before disappearing underneath the counter and coming back up with a messenger bag that he recognized from class. He could tell it was handmade from the way she handled it, like it was more precious to her than anything else. He could also tell because the bag had a couple of pictures that’d been put onto fabric that were badly sewn on. “So, you’ll just have to come back again and pay more for a haircut.” She shrugged like making plans with him wasn’t the first time someone wanted to hang out with him all semester.

            “Yeah, I will.” He agreed, feeling himself truly smile for the first time in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know your girl had to include pink somewhere in this fic, I bet you just didn't expect it to be here, did you?


	4. The Outside is New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “A lot has happened, wanna hear about it?”
> 
> “Of course, someone has to tell your story when you eventually go insane from Law School.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm updating on Sunday bc I'm worried about having time to update this week also bc i really do love this chapter. Like it's very much an original scene that's neither in the Movie or the Musical but i just think it fits? Idk, if you guys like it please tell me in the comments, those genuinely help me write so much, and please tell me what you'd like to see in the rest of the story because I don't want a carbon copy of Legally Blonde but with Percy Jackson characters if that makes any sense.  
> Please enjoy!

            “Do you want a ride back to the dorms?” Connor asked while Katie was locking up the shop. He hadn’t entirely expected to see Mitchell at Katie’s work, but when he’d seen the two of them together, talking and calm, it felt right.

            Then he’d seen Mitchell with pink hair and he realized how fucked he was.

            Working around attractive people his own age was something he was used too. Being gay in a male dominated field tended to do that, especially with suits. Connor knew that if he saw Mitchell in a suit he would lose his mind. But somehow Mitchell was different. It wasn’t just that he was attractive, every time they saw each other Mitchell was distorting his view in one way or another.

            Mitchell had seemed unbothered by the thought of flunking out of his first semester of college. Only bothered by the mere presence of Warner Huntington. A man that Connor didn’t particularly like in all honesty, he seemed incredibly rude and worried about everyone else.

            “Oh, are you heading over that way? I don’t want you to go out of your way.” Mitchell replied with a smile.

            “It shouldn’t be, my dorm is just a block away from yours, isn’t it?” Katie had snuck up on them with quiet footsteps. Laughing when Mitchell had jumped at her ‘sudden’ appearance, he was apparently incredibly jumpy.

            “I thought you lived off campus?” Mitchell asked, furrowing his brows. Even his confused face was adorable! How was this boy even real!

            “My boyfriend and this dork live off campus, I just stay with them sometimes.” She admitted, shrugging her shoulder.

            Living with Travis and Connor had never been an option. Travis was gone most days delivering things for their dad’s business, while Connor was a mess on the best of days. But staying with them while Travis was in town was what they’d compromised on.

            “Oh, my sister Piper does something similar with her boyfriend.” He replied, and Connor didn’t know that Mitchell had a sister. Not that he’d gone and Facebook/Instagram/googled him. Not. At. All.

            “You have a sister?” Katie asked, because was telepathic and loved him so much. They started walking towards his car which reminded him that his car was not the best car.

            If there was a hand-me-down version of a truck, that would be his truck. His dad had originally had the truck before he’d even met their mom, and he’d passed it on to Travis when he’d gotten his license. Then Travis had started working for their dad’s shipping company, getting a company car. Then passing off the car to Connor.

            But by that point the sides of the truck had been scratched up and one of the windows in the back seat didn’t even work anymore. Showing up to school everyday whilst living off campus was hell, but he’d gotten through it.

            “Technically she’s not my sister by birth, we were both in Delta Nu back at our college. It was a gender-neutral house that was a part of the Greek system at our school.” He explained, stopping next to Katie when they’d reached his truck. It was like now that Katie and Mitchell had broken the dam on conversation they couldn’t stop.

            In the short five-minute drive over to Katie’s dorm he’d learned that Mitchell only had one biological sibling and she was working on her master’s degree in library science at home with their parents. He also had weekly skype ‘dates’ with some of his sisters from Delta Nu, two others who weren’t in Delta Nu, and one who was campaigning to be their president next year.

            Mitchell smiled and waved when Katie got out. Katie herself looked a lot happier about seeing Mitchell and Connor together than she probably should’ve.

            Because even on a good day Connor was lucky to get out a few coherent sentences to Mitchell. Now? Now he had Mitchell only a few feet away from him, leaning towards his shoulder in what he can only assume was exhaustion.

            “Thanks for the ride back. I’ve kind of had an exhausting day.” And Mitchell shot him that smile that just melted his entire heart without even trying. This was going to be an interesting four years, especially if he was going to be Katie’s friend. That would mean they might both come over when Katie came to visit Travis…

            Mitchell was going to be the death of him. He could already tell.

            “Of course.” He replied, not entirely sure how to continue the conversation. Did he ask about why he dyed his hair? Or what brought him to Harvard? “So-”

            “Shit!” Mitchell whisper-yelled before shrinking down in his seat. He shot a worried look at Connor before ultimately pulling him down with him. They were so close that Connor could feel Mitchell’s breath on his neck. Something he definitely needed to forget about immediately. “Shit, shit, shit!”

            “Want to explain why we’re hiding like a couple of teenagers on make out hill?” He realized his mistake in wording when Mitchell turned back to him and he couldn’t help but imagine leaning in and closing the distance between them.

            The fantasy was shattered when he realized how scared Mitchell looked. His breathing was erratic at best, and his pupils were so wide Connor worried that they would eclipse the beautiful blue that- No! He couldn’t think like that! Not when Mitchell was so utterly terrified.

            “I saw Warner. He can’t see me like this! It’ll just prove to him how unserious he thinks I am! I- I can’t go out there.” He admitted, and Connor was tempted to make light of the situation. Who cared what some pompous asshole thought about Mitchell? Not to mention the fact that when Connor saw Mitchell, he knew his first thought hadn’t been ‘oh wow, Mitchell looks so unserious’. It had been trying to get his breathing under control around his ‘basically sister-in-law’ and a kid who he was TA-ing. “Could you check to see if he’s still out there?” Connor nodded.

            He slowly rose and almost screeched when he saw Warner staring over at them. The Kensington girl was standing next to him, looking unimpressed until she noticed Connor’s head hiding in his truck. Then, as if in slow motion, the two of them began to stalk over to his truck. A pair of disapproving looks on a pair of disapproving students came towards them at an alarming speed.

            Reacting instantly, he pulled himself up and put his truck in reverse. Speeding out of the parking lot he watched as the disapproving students disappeared in his rearview mirror.

            “Slow down!” Mitchell yelped reaching out and grabbing Connor’s thigh. Something that had him hitting the break in both surprise and something that was just a little inappropriate.

            As he stopped in the middle of a deserted street he could hear Mitchell breathing heavily in the passenger seat. Or maybe that was his own breathing. He couldn’t really tell, all he knew was that he was having major flashbacks to his senior year of high-school. Back when he’d pulled pranks every Friday and would race out of the parking lot before they had the chance to question him.

            Before he had the chance to apologize he heard a sniffle coming from the passenger seat. He turned and dove into an apology, speaking faster than he’d ever spoken before. Until he realized-

            Mitchell was laughing. Giggles and snorts combined together to make the strangest sound he’d ever actually heard in his entire life. After a few seconds Connor could feel his own laughter bubbling up his throat, coming out whether or not he wanted it there. Then they were just two adults, sitting in the middle of a road in a truck that had seen much better days, laughing at the world, leaning on one another for support against the weight of their own feelings.

            It was the most beautiful moment of his life.

           

            When they finally calmed down Connor moved back into his own seat and Mitchell moved back into his. He leaned against the window, allowing himself to be lulled to sleep by the steady beat of the truck’s tires against the road.

            They didn’t talk about what had happened. They didn’t talk about the way Mitchell’s first reaction was to put his hand on Connor’s thigh instead of his shoulder, or his arm. They didn’t talk about the way Mitchell had leaned into Connor when they’d both collapsed into giggles. The way that Mitchell had wanted to lean in and kiss him until the sun rose up and his sisters were ready to murder him for not answering his phone.

            Instead they drove in silence. The only sound coming from the few students outside that were walking around. It took an eternity to reach Mitchell’s dorm, and when they did. Mitchell didn’t thank Connor for driving him home, or driving him away from Warner and Vivian, or for their impromptu laugh session. Or even… just for being there. And listening to him when he might’ve been panicking just a bit. He hadn’t really expected Connor to listen to him, hadn’t expected him to pull out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell just at the thought of Mitchell seeing Vivian and Warner. Hadn’t expected him to laugh like a maniac when he’d dissolved into his own mess of snorting and giggles.

            Yet, he did.

            Once he got halfway to his dormitory he turned and waved at Connor, who was watching him walk into the building like he’d done for Katie. Connor waved back as if he hadn’t expected to be acknowledged.

            The walk upstairs was an actual hell. His thoughts began to spiral as he thought about Warner and Law School, and the fact he was flunking out after a few weeks. By the time he reached his door he had to stop and take a deep breath.

            People cared about him. Piper and Lacy and his sister Silena and even Drew, though she shared her affection in a different way than the others. His mom and dad cared about him so, so, much. So, did the few people he worked with to help establish Delta Nu as a part of the Greek system! And Connor.

            Connor seemed to care. Even when after Mitchell had changed his hair. Even after he’d almost had a panic attack in his car. Even after he’d snorted like a pig! Connor still smiled at him like he was… like he was the best part of his day, or at least that was what Mitchell thought was happening. Maybe it wasn’t, but he’d have to find that out later.

But for now? For now, he was going to climb into his bed, and sleep until lunch tomorrow. That sounded like a fantastic plan.

            “Mitchie! You have pink hair! And you’re smiling!” For a second he thought that maybe he’d left his Skype call open and that the girls had been waiting for him to come back. But it’d been almost two hours since that call. At least, he was pretty sure it’d been two hours. He looked up to find where he’d thrown his alarm clock that morning, to check what time it was. Instead, he saw a girl with a loose braid, worried eyes, and pajama pants that were way too loose to wear around anyone but family.

            “Piper? Why’re you in my dorm room?” He moved into his room and shut the door behind him. There was no doubt in his mind that if an RA caught them, that there would be serious consequences, and he was already flunking out of most of his classes.

            “You said you were going brunette, and someone had to do damage control when you realized that you were making a serious mistake.” She admitted, and unfortunately, he had to be honest with himself. If he had gone brunette he would’ve lost his god forsaken mind. He’d almost had a mental breakdown over going pink, something that would probably wash out after a month. Being a brunette would’ve ruined his self-confidence. “But obviously you haven’t done that.” She said, pointing to his hair.

            “A lot has happened, wanna hear about it?” He asked, settling in on his bed. Piper smiled at him and flopped onto his bed.

            “Of course, someone has to tell your story when you eventually go insane from Law School.”


	5. Smell the Grass As the Rainstorm is Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “But thank you for checking up on him. It’s nice to know that our little Mitchie is in such capable hands.”
> 
> “Mitchie?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have I started writing another Conchell story in my documents despite the fact I barely have time for this one?  
> Maybe  
> I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! It doesn't have much to do with either the musical or the movie but world building is necessary!
> 
> Enjoy! And if you have any ideas about what story I've started basing this new story on, please comment and tell me which one you think it is!

Piper had stayed so late that she ended up just staying the night. Of course, this led to a small argument on whether Mitchell’s dorm bed was large enough to fit the two of them or if they should try to pull out his air mattress for one of them. Piper had insisted it was his bed and he was the one in Law School, while Mitchell protested that they’d done this dozens of times back at Delta Nu and that cuddling someone while he was sleeping helped him anyway. They were both stubborn enough to stay up an extra hour fighting over sleeping arrangements before they both accidentally fell asleep together

            Waking up was the most difficult part of the entire process.

            Piper had rolled half onto Mitchell because she preferred sleeping on her stomach, and Mitchell ended up sleeping on his side. Meaning he woke up with a face full of boob. Something he wouldn’t normally complain about, if there wasn’t the issue of the boob belonging to a girl he considered a sister.

            “Get your boob out of my fucking face.” He groaned pushing her away, only to have her snuggle closer. She whispered something about how she didn’t want him to leave, and that his training days went on for too long for him to be up so early. This was when he realized that Piper believed she was sleeping in the same bed as her boyfriend Jason. Something that was 1, not true, and 2, incredibly interesting considering they’d yet to sleep together.

            “Pipes, I swear to god if you-” He was interrupted by a knock on his door. “It’s open!” He yelled, finally managing to wake up Piper.

            Did he expect to see Connor at his door? No.

            Was he unexpectedly excited about seeing Connor? Yes, yes, he was.

            “Oh! I’m so sorry I didn’t know you had- uh- someone with you.” Mitchell knew that Connor thought he’d slept with Piper. A small part of him was flattered that Connor thought he could go from having a mental breakdown about his hair to picking someone up. Then a bigger part of him was disgusted because Mitchell? Sleeping? With? Piper? Gross! Absolutely disgusting!

            “Mitchell, you smell like fucking hair dye.” Piper mumbled rolling off of him, gracefully flopping off his bed and onto the ground. Where she lay for a few seconds before reluctantly pulling herself up into a sitting position. “Holy shit, Mitchie, you have a cute boy in your doorway.”

            As Connor blushed Mitchell felt something akin to butterflies fluttering in his stomach. Because he _did_ have a cute boy in his doorway. A cute boy that had come to check up on him after he’d had the most traumatic salon visit of his entire life.

            He was truly living a blessed life.

            “Yeah, this is Connor, he’s my TA for Callahan. Connor this is my sister Piper, she’s a certifiable mess on a good day.” He motioned to the two of them before raising his arms and stretching. And if he was a little more dramatic than usual because he could feel a pair of eyes on him, well, no one would know.

            Piper turned to him and raised an eyebrow that meant several things, the biggest one being ‘why aren’t you seducing this adorable boy right now?’. To which he responded with a crinkled nose, that roughly translated into ‘I came here to win back my true love, fuck off about random cute boys.’ Which, while she couldn’t relate, she did understand. Something she confirmed with an eyeroll.

            “That’s me.” Connor replied with an adorable smile. Mitchell caught his eye for a second and Connor looked away before adding anything else. “I just came up here to check that you weren’t going to throw yourself off a roof or something.”

            “Nope, I have meds for that.” Mitchell responded, somewhat hotly. This caught Connor off guard as he whipped back around to face Mitchell. He looked stuck between two responses. Lucky for him, Piper interjected herself back into the conversation.

            “But thank you for checking up on him. It’s nice to know that our little Mitchie is in such capable hands.” She shot him a suggestive eyebrow wiggle before laughing.

            It worked well enough to break the tension, but Mitchell couldn’t help focusing on Connor’s words. ‘I just came up here to check that you weren’t going to throw yourself off a roof or something.’ Had he really been that distraught last night?

            As the memories came back to him, he did have to admit that he’d been quite emotional about everything last night. His moods swinging from elated to rock bottom and back up again in less than a couple of hours. If it hadn’t been for Katie and Connor, what would he have done last night? It’d been years since he’d ever seriously considered doing something so drastic. But every now and again the thoughts returned, and while his consideration was always outweighed by the overwhelming thoughts of how upset his sisters would be to discover him dead. Besides, he really was doing well.

            Well, not as well over the last couple weeks, but still.

            “Mitchie?” Connor asked with a raised eyebrow aimed right at Mitchell. If Mitchell had to take a guess, he had on a smug look. As if he was beating Mitchell at some kind of game. Which he definitely was not.

            “My nickname when I was a kid, and if you call me that I will murder you and get away with it.” Mitchell announced finally getting out of bed and moving to change out of pajamas he didn’t actually remember putting on. Though, the longer he was awake the less he could remember from last night. He blamed it on his lack of coffee.

            “Sure, and then where would you get the attorney to clear your name?” Connor smirked, leaning against the doorframe like he was trouble reincarnated.

            In that moment Mitchell realized how much he wanted to get to know Connor. For weeks now, these little moments had been popping up, revealing someone incredibly interesting and troublesome. The kind of person who you would sell your soul to and be happy about it. He wanted to meet that person, get to know that person.

            At that point he’d realized that he’d started staring off into space, zoning out both Connor and Piper. When he focused back onto the conversation he was surprised at the topic.

            “I’m single actually, I haven’t been on a date since I started law school. It just wasn’t really an option.” He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. Piper must’ve sensed that he was uncomfortable because she dropped the topic entirely. “Well, I should probably go. I have to meet up with Katie and Travis for lunch.” He pointed behind himself and started backing out of the room.

            “Oh wait!” Mitchell sped out of the room after him. Shutting the door so that it would be harder for Piper to listen to their conversation. Connor was standing in the middle of the hallway looking like a kid caught stealing candy. “Thank you, for everything last night. I wasn’t exactly in a great headspace and seeing _him_ would have only made it so much worse.”

            “Of course, anytime you need someone to give you a ride out of something like that, I’ll be here.” Connor turned like he was going to leave, before spinning back and pulling a pen out of his pant pocket. He quickly grabbed Mitchell’s arm and wrote a series of numbers that looked like a phone number. “If you ever need someone to pick you up, just, just call me. Okay?”

            The butterflies in his stomach turned into elephants.

            “Okay.” He echoed not paying attention as Connor left, instead staring down at his wrist with a newfound interest. Had that really just happened?

            “You have a crush on him.” Piper noted as he entered his dorm room again. She was pulling on a pair of pants that were definitely his and wearing a t-shirt that might’ve been Drew’s. He couldn’t really remember.

            “No, I don’t.” He denied. He’d felt this kind of thing for several people while he and Warner were together. If he gave it several weeks the feelings would fade, and he’d be perfectly happy with Warner once again. Besides, he still need to prove to Warner how serious he was, and then they’d live their happily ever after! He’d worked so hard! He couldn’t just give up now!

            Piper shot him a look from the corner of her eye that told him just how much she disbelieved him. But didn’t actually comment as they got ready together. He took an extra half hour to get ready after realizing his normal routine wouldn’t look the same with his new hair. Piper only complained the normal amount, making fun of his routine and playing with a couple of snapchat filters.

            “Are there any good coffee places around here?” She asked as they left his room. As usual they were walking with her arm around his shoulders, and his arm around her waist. He always felt safe when they walked like that and he was pretty sure Piper knew because she often insisted that they walked like that. They walked for fifteen minutes before he realized that he didn’t really know how to get to the coffee shop from this side of campus. He’d need to go over to Callahan’s classroom to find there way to the coffee shop.

            Something that he didn’t want to do.

            “Nope, but the school’s cafeteria serves amazing pancakes!” He replied, directing them towards the school’s cafeteria. They passed by several of his classmates who stared at him and turned to whisper to their friends. Something he was pretty used to after the last couple of weeks of wearing what he wanted, while everyone else wore boring blacks and blues and greys.

            “I don’t want to alarm you, but I’m pretty sure Lacy has a crush.” She whispered leaning in incredibly close to his ear.

            Lacy?? A crush???

            “On who?” He responded, forgetting where they were headed for a second.

            Lacy hadn’t dated anyone in the entirety that they’d known each other, and they’d been friends for going on three years now. She’d had multiple crushes in the last couple of years, but she’d never acted on any of them. As far as he knew she’d never even talked much about her crushes. Instead, she’d always opted for pushing Piper, Drew, and Mitchell to talk about their crushes. Even going so far as too ‘accidentally’ send Jason to Piper’s room when she knew the other girl was avoiding their annual mixer.

            “I think she has a crush on Ann, the kid she’s rooming with this year.” Which made so much sense.

            Lacy had taken to texting him random updates on her days a few days after senior year. Mostly ones about how she wasn’t ready for all of her siblings to move out, and how sharing his room with someone else was going to be utter hell. Once the year had begun though?

            Every text mentioned Ann in some form or another. ‘They’re just so quiet!’ ‘I don’t get why they don’t try and join in on the mixers!’ ‘I was sick and Ann got me soup.’ ‘Ann and I got fro-yo last night and we had so much fun!’ ‘I think Ann’s going out on a date with this chick who’s totally not for them.’ ‘Ann went on another date with this guy who’s so gross.’

            “She totally has a crush on Ann, has she-”

            “Texted me relentlessly about what they’re up to at any point in the day? Yes. Does she-”

            “Get so distracted on one-on-one Skype calls that you just mute yourself and start playing on my phone? Hell yes.” He replied and knew that they’d have to loop Drew in on this new development when they had their next group Skype session. Lacy always ended up being ten or fifteen minutes late to those anyways. Giving them time to scheme in private.

            They fell into a comfortable conversation talking about nothing and everything. It was so nice! He’d forgotten how easy it was to talk to someone he was really comfortable with. The past few weeks had been full of half attempted conversations with fellow students. They’d always stopped responding to him before they could even begin diving into interesting topics. It was frustrating beyond belief.

            “Sometimes I’ll be on my phone, and I’ll see something I think you’ll like. So, I just get up and look for you, because you used to be in the house all the time. But then I remember we don’t live together anymore.” She notes sadly, they’d found an empty beach and were currently sharing two croissants they’d gotten at the cafeteria. By the time they’d gotten there most of the pancakes had been sold, the only ones left were the rejects. Something Mitchell couldn’t stomach at the moment.

            “I miss you too.” He responded reaching out and holding her hand. He leaned over and moved his head onto her shoulder, knowing she would allow herself to lean back into him. “How long are you staying here?” She groaned, nuzzling her face further into his hair. Which would probably result in pink dye transferring onto her face.

            “I told Jason that I was coming down here because I was worried about the decisions you were making, so he thinks that I’m going to be here all weekend, but-” Her breath warmed his scalp in a strange way as she eventually trailed off.

            And Mitchell understood. There would always be a free weekend that they could get back together. That they could dress up and go out for dinner before coming back to chill and continue to catch up. There would always be time for them.

            There wouldn’t always be time for Piper and Jason.

            For weeks she’d been distracted, staying on Skype for longer than usual, ignoring her phone when it buzzed, and most importantly she never mentioned that they were going on dates anymore. In college they’d been inseparable, it was honestly hard for him to remember a time when they weren’t together.

            But now?

            “Wanna watch Mean Girls before you leave?” He could feel her smile in his hair.

            “As long as we can start planning how to get Ann and Lacy together.”

            “It’s a deal.”


	6. Yeah, You Look Real Serious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How are you even real?” She complained flopping back onto his bed. “I’m still not convinced you’re not an android sent into the world to try and trick us all to elect one of you into office, so you can take over the world.” He rolled his eyes again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think we all know what's going to go down in this chapter.

He’d been hanging out with Katie when he’d heard about the party. Vivian and another girl were discussing who would bring the wine when the girl Mitchell didn’t recognize turned to him and asked if he’d be free that night. The look on her face told him that she was more interested in him than she was the party. Something that he wouldn’t complain about, though she would probably be disappointed when she realized he only had eyes for one person.

            Vivian had appeared unperturbed when he’d been invited, which should’ve put him on edge. She’d been targeting him for weeks now. It didn’t make sense for her to be completely comfortable with Mitchell, her boyfriend, and alcohol being mixed together like it was. But he hadn’t thought twice about it. Instead he’d agreed and flashed his most charming smile at them like an idiot.

            “You’re not wearing those.” Katie glanced down at his pumps like their mere existence offended her. Which given the fact that she never wore any kind of heel or a shoe with soles over an inch thick made a little sense. “You’re going to kill yourself on the way _over_ there.”

            He rolled his eyes.

            “I’ve been walking in heels since I was a baby, I could probably run a race in these and I wouldn’t even sprain an ankle.” He leaned closer to his mirror, trying to make his eyeliner match on both sides. It wasn’t going very well.

            “How are you even real?” She complained flopping back onto his bed. Despite being a quiet person, Katie matched Drew’s intensity in being as dramatic as possible in any given situation. “I’m still not convinced you’re not an android sent into the world to try and trick us all to elect one of you into office, so you can take over the world.” He rolled his eyes again.

            Katie was just like his siblings, overdramatic and caring. In the last three weeks they’d gone from practically strangers to close friends. He had no idea how they’d sped through their friendship so fast, but he wasn’t going to complain about it. The only person he’d had to talk to on a regular basis before Katie was his teachers. And not in the fun ‘oh you’re my teacher but we agree on a lot of the same things and I consider you a friend’ kind of way.

            “If I was an android then I’d have to kill you to make sure you don’t spread our secret.” He responded, catching her eye in the mirror. She gave a sarcastic “Haha, very funny.” Before going back to typing furiously at her phone.

            He’d asked her to be his plus one to the party, but she’d declined almost immediately. The mysterious Travis was stopping by this weekend. She’d explained that she probably wouldn’t answer her phone unless it was an emergency, and her snapchat would be filled with pictures of the two of them.

            At the time she’d asked him if he maybe wanted to bring Connor with him to the party. He wasn’t the much older than Mitchell, as he was 26 while Mitchell was 22. Not to mention she wanted to get him out of their apartment for the weekend. Something that Mitchell definitely did not need to know about.

            “It’s not to late for me to call Connor if you don’t want to go alone.” She offered, not bothering to look up from her phone. He wasn’t entirely sure why Katie was pushing so much for Mitchell to bring Connor. It wasn’t like she was completely on board with his plan to get Warner back. She’d called him borderline pathetic, something that sounded so much like Drew he’d had to ask her to repeat herself.

            Besides, making Warner jealous had never been an issue. Even when they’d been fighting and Mitchell thought taking another guy to a party didn’t seem to phase him. His lack of jealously had been a factor in making Mitchell so sure that Warner was going to propose in the first place.

            And everyone knew how that ended.

            “Connor still doesn’t seem like the party type.” He backed away from the mirror and looked himself up and down.

            He’d spent a couple hours the day before skyping his siblings to create the perfect outfit. And it didn’t help that Lacy and Drew couldn’t decide whether he should wear tennis shoes or dress shoes. A fight that nearly took over their skype session.

            “He can be really fun when he lets loose. Trust me.” She laughed before going back to typing furiously at her phone like it was personally offending her.

            Mitchell decided he should probably leave, so he could arrive ‘fashionably late’.

           

            He was three beers in when he spotted Warner by the drink table. He was looking through the drinks, probably searching for his fancy beer he’d brought himself. Mitchell had always teased him about the whole thing.

            How Warner insisted that his beer was the only kind he would drink, and the lengths he would go to, in order to sneak it in to different places.

            “Hey there.” Mitchell smiled at Warner, leaning over him to grab a drink of his own. He hears Warner’s breath hitch as their shoulders touch. Part of Mitchell feels incredibly smug, pulling away and taking a sip of something way too fruity to be safe. “What’re you doing over here all by yourself?”

            Warner opens his mouth to say something before closing it. He eyes Mitchell up and down like he hadn’t expected to see him looking this good. He can’t help but enjoy having Warner’s attention.

            “You- uh- you look good Elle.” He comments after a couple of moments.

            It’s not the first time Mitchell’s seen him like this, and he can’t help but be proud of himself. It’d always taken a bit to get Warner’s attention, and to easily have it now? He must be doing something right.

            “You’re not looking so bad yourself. Ready for this Wednesday?” He asked, referring to their first major test of the year. Callahan didn’t hand out homework beyond reading, something that made the class extra difficult for Mitchell. Did you know how hard it was to find audio files of past legal cases? Much harder than you would think.

            “Gods no, every time I think about it I wish I was back in California. We sure did have a lot of fun back then, didn’t we?” He smiled up at Mitchell, a nostalgic smile that told Mitchell he still had a chance. All he had to do was take it.

            “We could have fun here too.” Mitchell suggested, reaching forward and playing with Warner’s collar. The boy in front of him wrinkled up his nose. The look of nostalgia gone, replaced with confusion. “Just think about it! We’re both here at Harvard, we could both get Callahan’s internship, and-”

            He was cut off by Warner’s laughter. Something a bit strange as Mitchell didn’t say anything as a joke, or anything that could be considered funny.

            It wasn’t like this was the first time Warner had ever laughed at something he’d said in seriousness. If he were being honest, and in this moment, he really wasn’t trying to be, Warner had laughed at Mitchell’s plans for the future dozens of times. Despite the fact that Warner had been the one to convince Mitchell to have a solid plan. Not that he didn’t have a plan before, but the one he’d come up with (Owning a boutique that featured up and coming designers while sending some of their proceeds to charities) was much more realistic than his original plan.

            “What’s so funny?” Warner looked up at him like he couldn’t believe Mitchell didn’t get the ‘joke’.

            “Elle, you don’t really think you’re going to get that internship, do you? I mean you get kicked out of class every day.” He rolled his eyes at Mitchell. And-

            And have you ever realized that something has changed so indefinitely that you know no matter what you do nothing will ever be the same as before that moment? He had. Multiple times before. The first time he came out to his best friend. When his heart was broken by a boy who’d never really wanted him. The day he’d decided to chase Warner half way across the country to convince him that Mitchell was serious.

            “Warner, am I high or did we not get into the same school? Did we not take the same LSATs?” He took a step away from Warner, feeling the urge to run away. Whatever was going to happen in this conversation wasn’t going to end well.

            “Elle, you do you seriously think you stand a chance of getting that internship, do you?” He scoffed like the idea was some kind of fever dream. Something Mitchell could never ever achieve no matter how hard he worked.

            “Warner, I’m here because I’m serious, about you, about my future, and this internship.” And maybe that was a bit of an overstatement, because he hadn’t actually been very serious about that internship. But now?

            “Yeah, you look real serious with your pink hair and pumps Elle.” Now he was going to show Warner just what he was capable of.

            Taking a deep breathe he transformed his barely contained rage into a smile. He wasn’t going to freak out, he was going to calmly leave, and start getting his ass in gear to prove that he was serious. So, then Warner would finally take him seriously!

            He turned around and ran straight into Vivian.

            Well, he didn’t really run into her. She was standing much closer than she needed to be and then threw her drink at him. He would’ve thought the whole thing was just a simple accident. If he didn’t see the way she smirked as the alcohol sunk into his pants and shirt. It would take too long to get out these stains. It was even red wine!

            “Oh, I’m so sorry, didn’t see you there.” She put on a fake pout. All Mitchell wanted to do in that moment was strangle her, or maybe Warner, or maybe even himself.

            Besides, he was the one to blame here, wasn’t he?

            He had chosen to follow Warner. He had chosen to pursue a ‘law career’. He left all of the people who he loved. He left the only home he’d ever known. All for what? A guy who didn’t even want him anymore?

            “I hope you have fun with him. Because the minute you don’t fit into his plan, he’ll drop you. He’s done it before, he’ll do it again.” And maybe that was a petty thing to say. But having an entire glass of red wine thrown on your mostly white t-shirt is enough reason to be petty.

            There was also the fact that it was true. Katie’s words were ringing in his ears as he pushed through the other partiers to get out of the room.

 _“Well, if he leaves her just because you have brunette hair, what happens if she changes up her hair? What if he leaves you because he wants a blonde then?”_ She was right. The moment that Warner decided to leave Vivian for him would’ve provided it. Because if Warner really _was_ that easy to tempt away, then what would stop him from leaving again?

Nothing. Nothing would ever stop him from leaving again.

He’d stumbled out of the party and down a sidewalk. Everything around him was blurring together in a haze of dark colors.

 _Fuck Harvard. Fuck Seriousness. Fuck Warner. Fuck- just fuck everything!_ He thought planting himself on a bench that was vaguely familiar. His feet hurt from spending the last couple of hours walking around a party trying to look as attractive as possible. Not to mention his tipsy state had begun to wear off and the absolute _failure_ of the night began to descend upon him. How was he supposed to face Warner or Vivian in class? How was he supposed to face all of his classmates?

The night around him was cold as he rubbed at his eyes, undoubtably smearing his mascara and eyeliner. Gods, why did he think tonight was going to end well? He wiped at tears silently racing down his cheeks. He didn’t need to get back to his dorm room looking like a panda. That might actually ruin his entire week.

“Mitchell? Is that you?”


	7. There's a Chip on My Shoulder, Maybe You Should Get One As Well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did Connor expect to run into Mitchell sitting on a bench head in his hands wearing heels? No, no he didn’t.
> 
> Was he going to complain about it? No, no he wasn’t.

Did Connor expect to run into Mitchell sitting on a bench head in his hands wearing heels? No, no he didn’t.

            Was he going to complain about it? No, no he wasn’t.

            “Mitchell? Is that you?” His feeling of excitement at seeing Mitchell faded the moment he saw the trail of mascara tears trailing down his cheeks. He made several little noises that broke Connor’s heart. “Are you okay?”

            Mitchell opened his mouth like he was going to say something before shaking his head. In less than a second Connor was over to him, wrapping an arm around Mitchell’s shoulders and pulling him into a hug. He didn’t let his thoughts wonder to whether or not this was appropriate, about whether or not he would keep his TA job after this.

            “What can I do to help you?” He asked, trying to not focus on the way Mitchell was leaning into him. The way his head fit perfectly on Connor’s shoulder. Because trying to hit on someone who was emotionally compromised was a bad idea!

            “M-my dorm can you-?” Before he even finished his sentence, Connor was already up and trying to figure out how to get back to his dorm. He’d only been there once before, and it’d been a long and somewhat strange night. “That way.” Mitchell pointed to a dorm a couple blocks away. Connor nodded and started down the side walk.

            “Uh, Connor? Hon?” Mitchell called, and Connor remembered that getting _Mitchell_ to his dorm was the goal here, not _Connor_ getting to his dorm.

            He spun around on his heel and walked back to retrieve Mitchell. Who gave him a small smile and laughed as Connor made an act out of offering up his hand. Mitchell rolled his eyes before taking Connor’s hand and pulling himself up. He was a bit unsteady at first, before reaching down and slipping off his heels. Compared to a couple of seconds earlier he was a few inches shorter, almost the perfect height to tuck himself under Connor’s chin.

            And he was not traveling down that path right now. Nope, not at all.

            They walked in silence, only stopping when Mitchell stepped on a stray rock or just needed a second to breathe. He’d stopped every time, not making a big deal despite Mitchell’s couple of apologies about being a nuisance. Prompting Connor to assure him that none of this was a big deal, and that he hadn’t been doing anything anyways.

            Which wasn’t entirely a lie but wasn’t entirely the truth either.

            Travis coming to visit meant that Connor got him all day, and Katie claimed him that night. They would share him for the next couple of days, but until they’d both had their alone time, it was best that they didn’t attempt sharing.

            That meant that Connor would need to find somewhere to stay while Travis and Katie… reacquainted themselves.

            So, he called up his friend Will who he knew would be free and asked if he could stay the night at his apartment. He’d said yes, but mentioned he’d be on a date for a while, so Connor would have to let himself in. Something that Connor had no issues with.

            And he knew he wouldn’t get to hang out with Will. Will? On a date? He’d been raving about a cute boy training to work in a morgue for weeks now, which meant that they’d be out for most of the night.

            Meaning, he really _didn’t_ have plans, kind of, sorta. Don’t judge! He was weak for cute boys!

            “What are you doing on campus?” Mitchell eventually asked as they approached the front of his dorm. He searched his pockets for his keycard, and upon seeing how tight those jeans actually were, Connor wondered where the hell he would even be able to store a keycard.

            “I get Travis during the day, and Katie gets him tonight.” He explained, hearing Mitchell snicker as he finally found his key card and opened the door. Mitchell turned back to Connor and smiled.

            “Do you need a place to crash then? Because I’ve got a single and a pretty comfortable air mattress if you want it.” He nodded over his shoulder. To where Connor knew the staircase leading up to his dorm room. And had he been a stronger man, he would’ve just walked Mitchell up. Made sure he had aspirin and water ready just in case he’d drank more than he insisted he had and left.

            But Connor was not a strong man when it came to cute boys with gorgeous smiles.

            “I would love too. Stay over. At your dorm. With you.” He could feel his own awkwardness as he added more and more words to his sentence. Mitchell seemed to find this amusing as his small smile grew bigger and bigger. “So, uh, yes. I would like to crash here.” Did Connor add on an awkward set of finger guns at the end? Yes, yes, he did.

            “You’re such a dork.” Mitchell pushed the door completely open and lead Connor through their common room. A couple of students were crowded around a small table, but other than that the area was empty.

            The two of them didn’t draw the attention away from those few students at the table, something Connor was thankful for. He doubted there was a strict rule on TAs going up to student’s rooms, but even the thought about getting caught and in trouble made him anxious.

            They climbed the stairs in mostly silence, the only sounds coming from loud students talking on different floors. Vivid memories of long nights spent in a dorm just like this sprung forward in Connor’s mind. Despite the fact that his own dorm was on the other side of campus, he could almost smell the scent of burnt popcorn ever-lingering in the shared kitchen. He heard the shrieks of frustration, excitement, and other activities echoing through the vents and keeping him even more awake than the Redbulls had.

            Back then everything had seemed so distant. The thought of graduating was a faraway fever dream for his late-night mind to worry about. Nothing felt real until the end of his first full year at college. Having his advisor tell him, he had a shot at Salutatorian if he just put in a little more effort and stopped getting kicked out of class every other day.

            Now? Now he was still drinking too much Redbull and eating food that his friend Will would call too processed. But he was working with Callahan at one of the top law firms, he could start paying off his loans and still had enough left over to buy two meals a day. Three if he skipped any kind of drinks.

            Connor’s door was the only decorated one on his floor. With a nameplate that Katie had told him was adorable at worst and brilliant at best. Connor didn’t entirely understand the point of a nameplate on his door, then again Connor could probably name three or four kids from his graduating class. He hadn’t put much effort into being as social as Mitchell was.

            “Home sweet home.” Mitchell joked opening his door and dropping off his shoes next to the door.

            Like the last time Connor was here, all he could focus on was the extreme mess that Mitchell called his dorm room. Clothes covered a majority of the room, and the few spots free of clothes were covered in what looked like energy bars. Mitchell makes a noise that sounds like he’s just now realizing how messy his room is.

            He rushes around, mumbling a few things about needing to pick out an outfit and not expecting anyone to come back to his dorm room as he picks up shirts and pants. Connor can’t help but wonder why someone like Mitchell would think no one would want to come back with him to his dorm, before considering that Mitchell might’ve wanted to go back with someone else. Part of him hopes he didn’t interrupt that, but another, less appropriate, part of him is glad he’s the one staying with Mitchell tonight.

            Even though he isn’t staying with Mitchell like _that._

            “I see you’ve really been hitting the books.” Connor comments, picking up a brand-new law book with the plastic cover still on it. He can feel the seed of resentment burn his stomach, though he does his best to stop focusing on it.

            “Fuck books!” Mitchell suddenly whirls around on him. Pointing at the book accusingly, like it’s the reason he doesn’t understand what Callahan is saying half the time. “Fuck this stupid dorm! Fuck Harvard! Fuck being serious!” With each word he stomps closer to Connor, eventually cornering him.

            If Connor couldn’t smell the alcohol on Mitchell’s breath, and he wasn’t acuitely aware of the fact that less than ten minutes ago he’d been sobbing on a bench. Then Connor would possibly consider the scene in front of him hot.

            What could he say, he had a thing for passionate people. Even if those people were cussing out the very school he’d worked his ass off to get into.

            Mitchell glared at the book for several seconds before his eyes flickered back to Connor. As if he was just realizing what he was doing, Mitchell backed away, tears starting to show in his gorgeous eyes. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something before shutting it again.

            “I think I need to leave. Warner won’t ever see me as anything other than a silly blonde, so what’s even the point?” The room around them absorbs the words before Connor has a chance to formulate a response.

            “Wait, let me get this straight,” Like anything he did was straight, _hah!_ “You came to Harvard Law School, to chase after your ex-boyfriend. Instead of just, finding someone new that was much closer to Malibu?”

            Mitchell’s shock drops into a frustrated frown.

            “Well, just because you have some kind of chip on your shoulder-”

            “You know what? I do have a chip on my shoulder, and that’s the only reason I got through school. And I’ve seen your grades Mitchell, so maybe you should get a chip on your shoulder too.” It’s not the best thing to say to the guy who’d just offered up his room you when you really have nowhere else to stay. But Connor’s seen the way Mitchell’s eyes haven’t strayed very far from Warner all year. He’s watched as Mitchell’s flirted and flaunted and failed to get Warner’s attention despite gaining everyone else’s eyes.

            “That’s really rude.” Mitchell responded, crossing his arms over his chest.

            “It’s the truth, some people would kill to be in your position, you need to make the most of it! And coming to Harvard for a man isn’t exactly making the most of it.” Had Connor ever considered pissing off an extremely attractive guy? No. Was he doing it anyways? Apparently he was.

            “Then why’d you come?”

            “You really wanna know?”

            “Yes.” He sounded vaguely unsure of himself. Uncrossing his arms and looking anywhere but at Connor.

            “I grew up in the New York slums, just me, my brother, and our mom. She was a flight attendant and wasn’t home with us very often. Instead her boyfriends were, and they were never good enough for her. They were always losers. But she thought we needed a ‘father figure’. I’ve seen every way a man could fail, so Travis and I promised each other that we would never be like that. Right before Travis graduated our dad showed up, apparently, he’d promised our mom he’d come back when he made something of himself. He offered Travis a job right out of college and helped me pay off some of my bachelor’s degree loans. I decided I wanted more than to just work for my dad, so I came here.” He gestured in a way that encompassed all of Harvard. Mitchell looked at him for a second. Like he couldn’t comprehend what he was saying.

            “Okay, well, that was dramatic, and I’m pretty sure you don’t want me to stay anymore so I’m just going to-” Connor started to turn before Mitchell grabbed his wrist and turned him back around.

            “Don’t go, I know that-” He stopped himself and took a deep breath. “I know that it’s pathetic that I followed him, I get it. But I love him. And I thought that love would be enough! I thought that maybe I could win him back.” Connor had never seen someone look so sad in his entire life. “But now I’m going to flunk out of Harvard and everyone’s going to be right. I’m just going to be some dumb blonde.” He let go of Connor’s arm and averted his eyes, like looking Connor in the face was the most difficult thing in the world.

            Which was when Connor made one of the worst, hastily made decisions of his entire life.

            “What if I tutored you?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I writing another story along with this one? Yes  
> Should I have written that story at the same time as I was writing this one? No  
> Am I regretting that decision already? You know it


	8. I'm Not Gonna Waste It!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Good news because it meant that Connor liked him back!
> 
> Bad news because, well, where did they go from there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! If you read the previous version of this chapter, you are aware that I will start posting every other Sunday. If, for some reason, I can finish up chapters sooner then I might post them before hand, but that will likely mean I won't post on the same schedule. Thank you all so much for reading this!

            “What did you just say?” He blinked at his shoes for a second before finally looking up at Connor. He knew he couldn’t look very good right now. He could feel the mascara drying on his cheeks. Guess his waterproof mascara wasn’t as good as they’d advertised.

            If Mitchell were just a little more sober than he actually was, he would’ve noticed the way Connor’s cheeks flushed. He would’ve noticed and appreciated the way the normally confident Connor Stoll chewed on his bottom lip, experiencing an emotion close enough to nervousness to warrant his nervous tick. The way Connor tried to consider explain that he hadn’t actually said anything and that Mitchell probably just hearing things, except that his words weren’t coming out.

            “I could tutor you. You don’t wanna flunk out right? And I know Katie would hate it if you left. So, I’ll help you out.” Mitchell feels like crying. Again.

            It was like a goddess had looked down on him and decided that he was worth sending an angel down to help him out.

            And Connor was an Angel. The more Mitchell thought about it, the more he realized that Connor was definitely a blessing sent down by someone. He’d spent the past couple of weeks being everything Mitchell needed without even trying. How did he do that?

            “You’d really do that?” Mitchell knew the face he was pulling right now wasn’t exactly fair. It was the same face he’d used on his parents to convince them to pay for college, and the same face he’d given Aphrodite, the founder and CEO of Love Cosmetics to persuade her to fund their yearly fundraiser for Delta Nu. Only a few people were immune to it’s effects, with Drew being at the top of that list.

            So, using that face probably isn’t fair, Connor should have the opportunity to back out. Especially if he only volunteered because Mitchell was a bonified mess.

            “Yes, I know what it’s like to have people not believe you. I don’t want someone else going through that alone like I did.” He adds with a shrug that should be ‘casual’ but misses by several hundred miles. His words have Mitchell on the edge of pulling him in by the collar and kissing him.

            The thought immediately dissipates in his mind. Drew had dated a TA once, it hadn’t ended well. Neither of them could stand one another, which meant Drew was royally screwed and barely passed that class with a B+. It had been her only B+ in the four years she spent there, even to this day she would still complain about it.

He doubted kissing Connor would have the same affect on his class. Besides, he was already flunking. It would be a miracle if Mitchell could pass this semester with a C-, not to mention that Connor probably didn’t even feel that way. He’d given no indication that he was gay, though he’d neither made any effort to discern himself as straight.

There was also the fact that Katie was the closest thing that Mitchell had to a friend here. If they were to date (not that Mitchell was considering that at all ((okay so maybe just a little bit?)) nope, not one tiny bit) and break up. Then Katie would be gone. It happened with Piper’s first college boyfriend David, and it would happen here too.

The risks just didn’t outweigh the odds.

It’s then that Mitchell realizes he’s been spending way too long thinking about a relationship that hasn’t even happened. Connor’s standing right in front of him, staring at him like he’s expecting Mitchell to say something, or really anything.

“So, are you going to say anything? Or like just keep staring at me? Because I’m honestly flattered but you’re drunk and I’m not.” He looked partially uncomfortable, which Mitchell didn’t blame him for. “So, consent would be pretty difficult to get.”

“Are you sure you want to help me?” He asked, and Connor looked unimpressed as Mitchell reiterated his earlier question. “Thank you, you really have no idea what this means to me.” Overtaken with a sudden emotion that he wasn’t willing to examine too closely, Mitchell took two quick steps forward and erased the distance between the two of them.

He wasn’t entirely used to touching people he didn’t consider his friends. Not that he didn’t consider Connor a friend. Except, they weren’t entirely friends? It wasn’t like they hung out on a regular basis, then again, they did see each other on a regular basis because of Katie and his classes. So maybe they were closer than Mitchell had originally thought?

It didn’t help that he was still pretty drunk and stringing together coherent thoughts while drunk was much more difficult than one would think. He didn’t pull away though, realizing how good Connor was at giving hugs. And he could really use a good hug.

When they finally did pull away Mitchell found himself enjoying the way Connor’s face was a pretty shade of pink. That was another thought that he didn’t want to examine too closely. He was apparently getting a lot of those tonight.

“So, uh, are you going to need help getting the air mattress ready or are you just going to blankly stare at it until it blows itself up?” He joked, and Connor rolled his eyes.

Being friends with Connor couldn’t be that bad if he made bad jokes like that, could it?

 

It was official. Being just friends with Connor was _that_ bad.

It wasn’t that Connor was a bad person, instead he was apparently a saint sent from heaven. He spent hours with Mitchell, teaching him what his teachers couldn’t, and explaining why Mitchell really needed to start taking notes in class. He broke laws down into words that Mitchell understood then pieced them back together until Mitchell could do so himself. He was likely the only reason

That was where his problems started.

Connor was practically perfect. He was the sweetest person Mitchell had ever met. Despite being a demon in disguise.

It’d only taken a few weeks before Mitchell realized he was definitely falling for Connor. And it started like this.

“Do you need anything while I’m out?” He stood and stretched his arms. Causing his shirt to follow the motion and grant Mitchell an absolutely wonderful view. All too soon he was reaching for a hoodie that was definitely Mitchell’s to wear outside.

Despite the fact it was barely October, the weather had done a complete 180 on them. Mitchell could barely stand being outside without less than two jackets and a scarf. Connor, who’d grown up in New York City and therefore experienced more than one season a year, tended to tease him mercilessly for wearing so much. At that point Mitchell would come back with a perfectly timed ‘So you want to see me in less clothing?’ joke that would have Connor turning away from him and bursting with laughter.

Mitchell would be lying if he said he wasn’t proud of how he got Connor to laugh like that.

“I’d like a will to live, but I don’t think they sell that at Casey’s.” He rolled onto his back, turning the whole room upside down.

 From the ceiling Connor gave him an eyeroll and smirk combination that had Mitchell halfway to jumping him. When had Connor turned from adorkable to undeniably hot. Maybe it had been at the same time that Mitchell realized that no matter what he did, Warner wasn’t coming back. Or maybe it was when he announced that he was done with Warner, but not done with Harvard by a long shot.

“Oh! Actually, could you pick me up one of their blueberry muffins?” Connor huffed like picking up a blueberry muffin wasn’t something he did every time he made a Casey’s run. Slipping on Mitchell’s hoodie that looked way too good on him, Mitchell wished it was illegal to be as cute as Connor was wearing Mitchell’s clothing. “My wallet’s on the dresser.” He added, pointing over to where his wallet balanced precariously on the edge of his dresser. He couldn’t remember why it’d ended up like that, though his mind unhelpfully gave him a couple ideas.

Connor reached for his wallet and slipped it into his back pocket. Which was another issue, despite always wearing baggy dress pants and sweat pants, Mitchell had gotten a look at Connor in form fitting jeans. And now he could never go back.

They’d been walking together, talking about, well, Mitchell honestly couldn’t remember what they’d been talking about. And Connor had tried to convince him that doing a cartwheel wasn’t that hard, and had moved off the sidewalk to do one. When he’d seen Connor in skinny jeans.

If Mitchell were religious, he’d classify the whole thing as divine intervention. Because despite his attempts, his feelings for Connor had only grown since he’d agreed to tutor him. They’d spent enough time together for Mitchell to learn that Connor loved cartoons more than the soap operas he watched with his mom. Or that he preferred regular Cheetos to hot Cheetos, even though he pretended to love them in front of his older brother and Katie. He knew that he loved horror movies, but hated the gory ones, Connor was squeamish beyond belief.

Every fact he learned pulled him closer and closer to falling for Connor in the worst ways possible, and Mitchell really didn’t mind.

“Earth to Mitchell!” He yelled throwing a pair of shorts at Mitchell. It took a painful maneuver to escape getting hit with the shorts, and when Mitchell moved to glare at him, Connor only rolled his eyes in a way that made Mitchell’s heart squeeze in an even more painful way. “Why do you have a picture of you and Warner in your wallet?”

If Mitchell were reading into the situation, he would guess that Connor was upset that he had a picture of him and Warner still in his wallet. Which would lead Mitchell to guess that Connor actually liked him and was a bit jealous. Something that was both good and bad news to Mitchell.

Good news because it meant that Connor liked him back!

Bad news because, well, where did they go from there? It wasn’t like Mitchell had any spare time to go on dates or do much else besides study. And dating a TA?

He could already hear the rumors spreading.

But he decided not to read into the situation, because that would make everything much more difficult. Instead he rolled his eyes and got up to pluck the picture out of Connor’s hand.

It was a good picture. Taken their junior year right before the winter formal, Piper had been in charge of picture and had taken one after Mitchell had told Warner some dumb joke or pun. He was laughing, pure joy spread across his face. Mitchell was looking up at him, some akin to love obvious in every cell of his body. A faint memory of that day returned to him every time he looked at that photo. The biting cold nipping at his face and the way Warner had fondly rolled his eyes at the way Mitchell asked to wear his jacket.

But that memory felt old now, covered in dust and tucked away in a different place. Back when he was an entirely different person. He was in love back then, and he’d been sure that Warner had loved him back. Now? Now he was only partially sure that Connor thought he wasn’t an annoying freshman with a lot of fashion knowledge and slightly upsetting eating habits.

“It was a good memory, we had a four-year relationship Con, it’s not like I can just _get over_ him in the span of three months.” He admitted frowning down at the picture. The longer he thought about it, the more he remembered the difficult parts of that day.

Warner had refused to hold his hand when they’d all gotten dinner afterwards. Hadn’t wanted to dance or get him punch or wear the corsage Mitchell had gotten for him. The more he thought about it, he’d seen Warner less and less as the night went on. Only seeing him in brief flashes or out of the corner of his eye. He’d only shown back up to drive them back to Warner’s apartment, where Warner had then deemed him worthy enough to pay attention too.

“Besides, I kind of forgot I even had this picture. I just kind of threw it in there and forgot all about it.” He commented setting it on his dresser before turning back to Connor. Connor glanced down at the photo before his gaze returned back to Mitchell. “Now will you go and get my muffin? I’m hungry!”

“Hi hungry, I’m Connor.” He joked, barely avoiding the same pair of shorts he’d thrown at Mitchell earlier. The smile on his face made up for the fact that Mitchell’s poor aim prematurely ended the life of his favorite water bottle.

He left after a few more minutes of banter and Mitchell couldn’t help the smile that arose when he thought about Connor coming back. Because being his friend wasn’t really that bad, except for the fact he was falling in love.


	9. Subtext By Calvin Klein

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are so fucking oblivious! He’s obviously into you, and I doubt the way he looks at you is someone who’s judging the fact you don’t eat like a normal human being or the way someone looks at a rebound!” 
> 
> “I’m not oblivious! You’re just reading into everything too much.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” Katie complained from her spot on the couch. She and Travis were intertwined in a way that wasn’t sexual but made Connor uncomfortable all the same. Like he was intruding on some special moment that he wasn’t supposed to be there for.

            But in lieu of answering he just shrugged and shifted in his own seat. He wasn’t entirely sure how they’d gotten on to the topic of Connor and Mitchell’s friendship, but here they were, and Katie didn’t look inclined to stop talking about it anytime soon.

            “Mitchell is totally in to you!” She added after several moments of Connor not responding. He opened his mouth to object but Travis interrupted.

            “She’s right dude, this Mitchell guy seems really into you.” Which was something that Travis had no way of knowing! The two of them had never even met before! Connor had made sure of that, it was one thing for Mitchell to meet Katie. Who was in most of his classes and seemed intent on becoming his friend either way. It was an entirely different thing to meet Travis, who would tell embarrassing stories about Connor and expose his flaws and make Mitchell realize how much better he could do.

            But that was not the point.

            “He’s not, not really.” Connor answered, swishing his beer around in its bottle. Katie shot him a look that he easily deciphered, while Travis just glanced between the two of them. Oblivious to their nearly daily argument over this issue. “Because he’s just interested in-”

 

            “-a rebound.” Mitchell complained to Drew and Piper, who were both glaring at him through their computers. Even though it was a totally reasonable reason to be worried! Mitchell, like most people, wasn’t the best with feelings and knew he didn’t want Connor to be some rebound guy. He was worth so much more than just some one-night stand and a couple of awkward dates.

            “Mitchie, that random guy from the club we went to when you were still pretending everything was okay and got way too drunk was a rebound. You really do seem to like Connor.” Drew explained, not even looking up from her books. Something that wasn’t fair whatsoever, how she could study without needing fifteen different things was insane to him.

            Piper made a sound of agreement from her own little window. Where Mitchell noticed Jason was cooking something in the background. The two seemed to be on better terms now, he really hoped they were.

            “But what if it _is_ a rebound? You guys haven’t seen a time when I’ve needed a rebound!” He reminded them, pointing at each of their screens before hiding his face in his arms. After being with Connor so much, he now practically had a sixth sense for when people were rolling their eyes at him. And both of his sisters were doing just that.

            “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard Mitchell.” Drew announced, finally looking up.

            “Yeah! What about that time when you and Warner were on a ‘break’ sophomore year?”

            “Or the time after he talked about you two going on a permanent break and you flirted with your waiter.”

            “Or the Italian Ice incident.”

            “Okay! Maybe you have seen me need a rebound, but I can’t risk it, he-”

 

            “-deserves so much better than someone who counts Red Bull and cold pizza a meal.” Connor pointed out, to which Travis laughed and Katie just stuck him with a semi-glare that would bring any super villain to their knees.

            “Connor you realize that he came to Harvard to win back a man, right? I really doubt he cares that much about what you eat for breakfast.” She reasoned, which made a lot of sense to Travis who shook his head in agreement. But didn’t make as much sense to Connor.

            “So?” Katie groaned and rubbed at her eyes like he was one of her annoying younger siblings. She shook her head like _he_ was the one being unreasonable here. Like she wasn’t the one trying to convince him to go after a guy several years younger than him and one that’s still going after a man in a relationship. Or, he might still be going after Warner, Connor wasn’t entirely sure.

            “You are so fucking oblivious! He’s obviously into you, and I doubt the way he looks at you is someone who’s judging the fact you don’t eat like a normal human being or the way someone looks at a rebound!” She explodes tossing a nearby pillow at him.

            He’s prepared enough to duck out of the way of the pillow, but unprepared enough to end up on the floor when she throws over a balled-up blanket. His landing is less painful and more mortifying than anything else. Travis and Katie both laugh as he raises a hand to flip them off.

            “I’m not oblivious! You’re just reading into everything too much.” He replied sitting up and frowning at his beer which was now spilt all over his t-shirt. “Besides, I’ve seen the way Mitchell works, if he wanted a relationship-”

 

            “-then I would’ve gone for it.” He answers sourly, remembering several days when he’d wanted to make a move but knew better than too. His and Connor’s friendship meant more to him than he’d originally realized, and risking all of that on a relationship that might just be nothing more than unruly feelings from his previous relationship? Well, he’d rather sell his Giuseppe Zanotti’s than ruin what he had with Connor.

            “No, you wouldn’t have.” Drew replied decisively, setting her book to the side and giving Mitchell her full attention. “You’d do what you’re doing right now. Reaching for any reason to _not_ go after him. You did the same thing with Warner in freshman year.”

            “I did not!” He flushed thinking back to freshman year and how naïve he’d been back then.

            “You did. It took several weeks for us to convince you to take the leap from friends who flirted to dating.” Piper piped up, turning and yelling something back to Jason who laughed and nodded. “Jason agrees too.”

            “It took several months and eighteen dates to realize that you two were going out.” He pointed out and Piper appeared a bit sheepish as Jason whipped around and yelled something that sounded like ‘Eighteen? We went on eighteen dates?’. Which was apparently enough to preoccupy Piper as she turned back around and addressed her boyfriend with placating hand gestures.

            Drew shot him an unimpressed look before locking eyes with him.

            “Mitchell, this boy has spent more hours with you in a day than Warner has ever wanted to. He puts up with your disastrous study habits almost daily, and whenever you’re not together he’s texting you.” She lists her points off on her fingers, and Mitchell cuts her off.

            “We’re not texting right now!” This isn’t his best rebuttal, no, that spot goes to about a week ago when he’d been in Callahan’s class.

            He was listening to Warner arguing his case, and Callahan had finally admitted defeat, when a spark of an idea caught fire in his brain. Hesitantly, he raised his hand to catch Callahan’s attention. When he’d finally been called on, the room went quiet as he started his argument.

            When he finished speaking, the room felt deathly quiet around him. As if he’d just suggested the stupidest idea anyone had ever heard in Harvard’s history. Then Callahan smiled, something that did not suit his features whatsoever, and announced that Mitchell had just won his case.

            Mitchell’s eyes had caught Connor’s from across the room and fireworks exploded in his stomach.

            “That’s probably because you forgot to text him back.” Drew complained looking at him like she’d just sealed his fate. Which wasn’t true because he had most definitely-

 

            “-hasn’t replied to my last text in over a half an hour. He always responds, like right away.” Connor took another drink of his beer and knew if he kept on like this, he would likely be drunk before midnight. His brother and his eventual-sister-in-law must’ve realized this too because they both gave him and his beer pointed looks.

            He set his beer down on their coffee table.

            “Didn’t he tell you that he was skyping people tonight?” Katie asked, knowing full well that Mitchell _had_ told Connor he was skyping his sisters tonight. Katie knew that because it was possible that Connor had mentioned that he wouldn’t be over at Mitchell’s for that very reason.

            It wasn’t that Connor didn’t like Drew, Piper, and Lacy, it was just that meeting them had been entirely too nerve wracking. Not to mention that the last time he’d walked into a skype session Mitchell had to leave and let the pizza man in. Leaving him to answer some awkward questions that included, but weren’t limited to:

            ‘How long have you two been studying?’

            ‘What are your intentions with our Mitchie?’

            ‘Did you bribe him to be a better student?’

            ‘Do you live on campus? And how much time do you two spend together?’

            And a stellar request from Lacy, ‘Don’t kiss and get together before winter break, the Delta Nu siblings have a betting pool going on.’. Something that fueled his nervousness and gave him a solid reason for not making a move. Even if Katie disagreed.

            “He might’ve mentioned he was skyping his sisters.” Connor conceded flopping dramatically so that his legs were splayed over the arm of his chair. “But he usually doesn’t just-” He’s cut off by a ringtone. A very, very specific ringtone.

            _‘Hey! I just met you~ And this is crazy~’_ Before his face lit up like a Christmas tree, with Katie and Travis’s laughter like silver bells. He fished his phone out of his pocket and couldn’t help the smile that unconsciously took over his face.

 

_ Mitchie _

_sorry! i totally saw your text and forgot to respond!!!_

_also, if you insult my queen lady gaga again I will_

_sneak cyanide into your redbull_

_ Me _

_I’m pretty sure lady gaga wouldn’t want her_

_fans killing too keep up her reputation_

 

            He quickly responded, only to meet Katie’s eyes once again and want to take another long swig of his beer. That would prove to be his last swig as the bottle was now empty. He set down the bottle and stared at his hands.

            “Okay, but that doesn’t mean anything!” He argued crossing his arms over his chest and looking everywhere but at Katie and Travis. Mostly because he found himself to be tipsy enough to spill his guts about how insanely attractive and mind-numbingly perfect he found Mitchell, and partially because he was getting a little dizzy.

            “It’s okay to like Mitchell besides we’ve all-”

 

            “-seen how much he means to you. You haven’t gotten this defensive since you and Warner got together.” Drew pointed out, her voice much softer than it usually was. She caught his eye and he knew that whatever she was going to say was going to prove her point completely. Which wasn’t a good thing, since it meant he wouldn’t be able to continue blaming the butterflies in his stomach on the sushi he’d eaten.

            “Drew-”

            “Just because you’re afraid to move on from Warner doesn’t mean you changed everything in your life for nothing.” And damn, when did she get so good at reading him? “Besides, don’t you kind of enjoy law school?”

            He glared at her, because, if he was honest, he really did enjoy law school. He enjoyed arguing his case and winning their class arguments. Liked going through case files and figuring out loopholes to get the underdogs on top. It gave him a rush of adrenaline that he’s only ever felt when finding the perfect outfit that makes him look and feel good at the same time.

            “But what if he doesn’t feel the same way?” Mitchell bit his lip, knowing that there were countless people who he’d talked to who hadn’t felt the same way as him. It wasn’t uncommon for Delta Nu siblings to fall way too quickly for someone who was sooo not interested.

 

            Connor went to stand up when his phone started to ring. It wasn’t Mitchell’s tone which made his heart fall a little as he went to answer it. Then he saw the name of the person calling him and his heart nearly dropped out of his body entirely.

            “Callahan is something-” He was cut off almost immediately by someone incredibly stressed and sounded vaguely like the Callahan Connor knew.

            “I’m posting the internship tonight. We’ve just been given the Aphrodite case, and she’s being extra ridiculous. I’ll need all hands on deck, and that means you too Stoll. I expect to see you bright and early Monday morning, and wear something decent. I can’t have my co-counsel looking like he just walked out of a Good Will.” He hung up the phone without so much as a good bye, and Connor could hardly breathe.

            “Connor? Connor what happened?” Katie asked, beginning to untangle herself from Travis. He waved her away and stood up, starting to dial Mitchell’s number when he received a call from Mitchell.

            “Callahan sent out the emails for his internship, I don’t think I can open it.” Mitchell was whispering like he was holding some long forgotten secret and for a second Connor couldn’t do anything except think of how to make things better for him. Katie tossed a shoe at him, almost literally kicking him into gear.

            “I can be over in five?” He offered, and Mitchell’s appreciative sigh made everything clearer. Maybe he wouldn’t be Mitchell’s boyfriend, but this could be enough. It would have to be enough.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Just a reminder that I am a student, and in my junior year! Life is kind of crazy right now and even though I want to stick to an every other week schedule, I might not always be able to! Please be patient with me as I really want to put out the best chapters I can!


	10. I Am So Much Better!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Like he hadn’t even expected himself to ask that.  
> Mitchell is outrageously happy he did.

            Unfortunately, staring at his laptop didn’t make the email magically go away. It didn’t erase Callahan’s email address with the few words telling him that he was taking freshmen interns, and this was the list. It didn’t relieve his stress either.

            In his panic to get to his email as soon as possible he’d signed off the skype call and was currently receiving several worried texts from his sisters. Both of them demanding he tell them what was happening. Of course, he ignored these requests in lieu of pacing around his tiny dorm room waiting for Connor to show up and give him the strength to either open the email or throw his laptop out of the window.

            “Hey! I’m- I’m s-sorry I was drinking so I had to r-run to get here.” Connor slammed into his room and almost immediately fell on Mitchell’s bed. He was sweating like it wasn’t nearly 40o degrees outside and he was wearing basketball shorts that Mitchell definitely didn’t have an interest in seeing again. Nope. Not at all. Natta.

            “It’s okay. I’ve just been, uh, okay so I might’ve just been freaking the hell out ever since I got the email. Like holy shit this is it! I either made it or I didn’t!” He continued to pace as Connor caught his breath. Mitchell couldn’t help but think that this was _it._ He was either going to prove himself to everyone or have to work twice as hard to earn their respect.

            “What if I didn’t make it Con? What if I’ve just screwed up too much?” He collapsed on his bed next to Connor. His ceiling had an array of glow in the dark stars that Lacy had sent him a couple weeks before he’d left for Harvard. Every time he saw them he was reminded of her and his siblings.

            Mitchell felt Connor’s fingers trailing down his arm. In their couple weeks of friendship, he’d learned that Connor was a naturally touchy person. When they’d hang out Connor would always be playing with his hair or tracing unreadable letters on his arm. A couple of times Connor would lay his head on his shoulder, and Mitchell would allow himself to believe that they were boyfriends. That they did these kinds of things all the time. That when it ended they would do it again, that he’d never have to worry if this was the last time they’d be that close.

            A few times Connor had pulled back, and Mitchell always let him. He’d give Mitchell a look that he couldn’t read before making sure that it was alright if he could play with Mitchell’s hair or that when they cuddled he could be either the big or little spoon.

            “Then you keep trying. You work as hard as you can, and you keep going. I didn’t get Callahan’s internship, and yeah it was devastating, but as long as you keep getting better then it doesn’t matter.” He whispered, and Mitchell felt a shiver run down his spine. Everything with Connor tended to be loud and showy, he did everything in his power to make the people in his life happy. Whether that meant driving all the way to Illinois to surprise Katie’s little sister or eating ice cream and watching Pride and Prejudice with Mitchell.

            “Wow, you’re really making me feel optimistic about this Con.” The bed shook underneath them as Connor turned to face him. Mitchell watched out of the corner of his eye as Connor looked at him. He rolled over to face Connor. “What?”

            “Sweetness, you’re going to get this. So, no matter what I could say, it won’t matter because you’re going to be in that courtroom with me.” It took a few seconds for Mitchell to process his words.

            “Wait- Connor! He asked you to be his co-counsel? That’s amazing! I’m so proud of you!” He looked down at Connor and tried to ignore how right it felt being with Connor like this. Having Connor call him Sweetness, holding his hand, and comforting him when he needed it.

            Connor smiled up at him and it was too much. The emotions and the tugging at his heart and the way Connor’s smile was like the sun and the want to kiss him. So, he leaned down, down, down. And Connor’s smile shifted into something softer. And he moved so he was laying on his elbows. And they were close. So, so, so, close.

            And then Connor’s phone rang.

            Connor shot forward at the same time Mitchell tumbled backwards and the two of them ended up on the ground in a crumpled mess. A shoe was wedged uncomfortably in between his shoulder blades and Connor’s knee shoved into his thigh. Had this been any other situation Mitchell would’ve blushed and tried to focus on something neutral. Like birds or Winnie the Pooh or last year’s failed fashion trends.

            But this wasn’t a normal situation and he couldn’t help the feelings bubbling up in his stomach and everything felt terrifying and new and all he could hear was Drew’s voice.

            _“You’d do what you’re doing right now. Reaching for any reason to not go after him.”_

            “ _Mitchell, this boy has spent more hours with you in a day than Warner has ever wanted to.”_

            _“Just because you’re afraid to move on from Warner doesn’t mean you changed everything in your life for nothing.”_

Connor looked up at him through gorgeous curls and all he wanted to do was kiss him. To mess up those curls even worse and leave him just as wrecked as Mitchell felt.

So, he did.

It wasn’t what he’d imagined. But to be fair to Connor, his imagination tended to ruin most things. His lips landed above Connor’s right underneath his nose. Before Connor really had a chance to react he pulled back. Covering his face with his hands and laying as still as possible.

“Mitchell? Did you just?” He shook his head. As if to convince both of them that he’d never attempted to kiss Connor.

“I have no clue what you’re talking about.” His words were muffled by his own hands. In all honesty, he wouldn’t have been surprised if Connor didn’t understand a single word he was saying. Though it was probably better if Connor didn’t hear him at all. Who knew how much he’d screwed up their relationship by doing that.

“Mitchell? Gorgeous? Will you please look at me?” Gorgeous? Really? This was how the universe was going to punish him for acting on his stupid feelings? By having one of the most perfect boys Mitchell had ever met, calling him Gorgeous!

It was just plain rude.

After a couple of seconds Mitchell moved his hands away from his face and shifted so that he was now the one on his elbows. Connor moved so that his arms were on either side of Mitchell’s chest. His leg was still in between Mitchell’s legs in a way that would’ve made his sixteen-year-old-self squeal.

The feeling bubbling in his stomach was back, boiling at a temperature that was quickly spreading throughout his whole body. He’d never had something like this with Warner, instead everything they had, had been fast and intense. The feelings, the relationship, and the… well, you can fill in the rest for yourselves. They’d gone from acquaintances to flirting to boyfriends in a matter of weeks.

Yet everything with Connor? Everything with Connor had been relatively slow and wonderful. He’d started to consider Connor a close friend and was even tempted to inviting him to lunch when his sisters visited. He’d hesitated introducing Warner to his siblings after dating him for several months.

“Hey, I think you missed.” He whispered leaning closer, closer, closer, until- Connor’s phone rang again, and Connor reacted by accidentally headbutting him. Mitchell fell back clutching his nose while Connor cursed and finally answered his phone.

“What do you want?!” He practically hissed into his phone. On the other end Mitchell could hear someone screeching, so loudly that he could almost make out what they were saying from a couple feet away. Connor flinched away from the phone for a few seconds before the voice got quieter and he returned it to the side of his face.

“Wait- they got what? How do you know?” A couple beats of silence. “Oh, okay, well thanks for the warning. I’ll text when I’m on my way home.” He hung up after a quick goodbye before blinking at the phone in his hand like he didn’t recognize it.

Mitchell didn’t want to speak, because breaking the silence meant they had to address everything that had just happened. And that was not a conversation he wanted to happen anytime soon.

“Okay, good news and bad news.” Connor announced looking over at him. “Good news, Katie has one of the intern positions, and uh- so did you.”

Mitchell shot up from the ground. Ignoring the blood now dripping from his nose and onto his pajama pants. His laptop had fallen off the bed in Connor and his- struggle? Could what just happened be considered a struggle? Mitchell guessed from the broadest definition of the word it would be. He could argue it that way anyways, not that he needed to.

After two failed password attempts (mostly because his hands were shaking that badly) he was back into his email account and pressing on the email that just a few minutes ago made him want to throw his laptop out the window.

_Vivian Kensington_

_Warner Huntington III_

_Katie Gardner_

_Mitchell Woods_

“Holy shit. Holy shit! Connor! I did it!” He jumped up, his laptop landing safely on a pile of (probably) clean clothes. Despite the fact his neighbors would probably hate him for it, Mitchell continued jumping up and down waving his arms like a crazy person.

Connor smiled up at him like seeing Mitchell happy was the highlight of his night. Then a frown crossed his face.

“What?” Mitchell asked, remembering he had a bloody nose. There was no doubt in his mind he looked like a mess. Well, more of a mess than he usually was anyways. When he wiped at his nose his hand came back bloody and he searched for something to clean up with. He ended up wiping his nose with a pair of boxers that he really hadn’t wanted Connor to see.

Connor sprang into action. Having Mitchell lean his head forward and searching for something else he could use for the bleeding. He searched for a while before coming back with a box of tissues that were half hidden under Mitchell’s bed.

“You’re really cute when you’re excited.” Connor noted when they’d finally managed to get the bleeding to stop. For a few seconds Mitchell didn’t know how to respond. Connor had never called him cute before. Every once in a while, he compared Mitchell to a porcelain doll, though he was usually joking when he said that.

“Thanks.” His words came out breathlessly. Though Mitchell couldn’t tell if that was from the excitement, adrenaline, or how close he and Connor were currently sitting.

“Can I kiss you?” Connor blinks before his eyes go impossibly wide and his face flushes a pretty shade of red that Mitchell wants to see again. He opens his mouth like he’s trying to figure out how to disarm a bomb. Like he hadn’t even expected himself to ask that.

Mitchell is outrageously happy he did.

He can feel a smile cross his face and he reaches over to cup Connor’s cheek. The moment is intimate in every way that Mitchell’s ever experienced and more. Fragile, is the word that comes to mind when he thinks of whatever is happening right then. Though, it also feels like everything is finally falling into place after years and years of trying to force the wrong puzzle piece into the wrong spot.

He leans forward, and their lips are inches apart. They’re so close that Mitchell is sure that Connor can hear his heart beating through his pajamas. It’s the same moment they’ve had several times tonight and he’s dead set on seeing this one through.

“Warner and Vivian got engaged.” …Or maybe not

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did i forget to post for almost an entire month? Yes yes I did.  
> am i sorry? Yes, yes i am  
> will it probably happen again? Yes, yes it will


	11. Watching You Walk Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “They- they’re what?” He honestly can’t tell if he’s more upset over Warner and Vivian’s engagement or having Connor interrupt his attempt to kiss him once again.

“They- they’re what?” He honestly can’t tell if he’s more upset over Warner and Vivian’s engagement or having Connor interrupt his attempt to kiss him once again. Especially when he had asked too!

“That was the bad news. Katie had gone to text her study group about getting the internship and they were all already talking about the engagement party. He apparently popped the question after they both got the internship. I didn’t want to keep that from you.” He was back to opening and closing his mouth like he was trying to figure out how to get back on track to kissing Mitchell. Something he appreciated greatly, but with this new development…

Thoughts were swirling around Mitchell’s brain, razor sharp and impossibly quick. He could feel a headache forming in his temples and suddenly all he wanted to do was be alone.

Because after everything he’d done. After everything he’d sacrificed and fought for, just to be here. Warner was going to marry someone else. A girl he’d been dating for the past couple of months, rather than the boy he’d been with for three years! And yet here was this amazing, fantastic, gorgeous boy who wanted to kiss him. After so much waiting and fighting he got someone he hadn’t expected. Right?

Or maybe he was projecting onto Connor? Maybe, the past couple of weeks had been Mitchell wishing that Connor was more than he was. That he was this perfect person that Mitchell could fall for while he was getting over Warner.

“I ruined the moment didn’t I.” Connor said it like it was a fact. Like he was the reason all of this was happening.

“No! I mean, a little bit. If a cute boy is leaning in to kiss you, then you should probably tell him that his ex is engaged after you finish kissing.” He let out a laugh that was only partially forced, though he’d be lying if he wasn’t a little amused at the current state of things. Someone who Mitchell _wanted_ to be his boyfriend (at least he was pretty sure he wanted Connor to be his boyfriend) was telling him that his ex-boyfriend was totally over him. That was- that was definitely something.

“So, you were going to kiss me?” He asked, an adorable smile gracing his features. Mitchell nodded, though he couldn’t help but frown. “I’m guessing you’re no longer in the mood to kiss?” Mitchell nodded again. Connor frowned for a second before shaking his head and reaching out and taking Mitchell’s hand. He intertwined their fingers and Mitchell found the gesture comforting.

All he wanted in that moment was to be back with his sisters. To eat ice cream and cry? Did he want to cry? He found that he really didn’t want to cry, instead he wanted to just talk about everything that was going on in his life. As if on cue, his phone buzzed.

He reached over and picked it up. Piper was currently threatening to have Jason drive them up there, while Drew swore that if she had to leave and miss her classes tomorrow that she would kill him, after comforting him of course. One of them had alerted Lacy to his panicking and she was also texting him.

He loved his sisters.

“I can leave if you want. I don’t want to stress you out even more than you already are.” He began to stand up but Mitchell pulled him back down.

He wasn’t entirely sure _what_ or _who_ he wanted to be in a relationship with, but he _did_ know that pushing Connor away wasn’t an option. While he wasn’t the best at relationships, he did know that pushing people away didn’t yield healthy relationships. A thought floated to the front of his mind while the rest of the thoughts were still forming a tornado that was likely to ruin his next couple of days.

“Do you want to cuddle?” Connor offered, and the smile returned to Mitchell’s face. Cuddling sounded heavenly compared to anything else he could come up with. “Okay, do you think we’ll be able to talk about whatever we are tomorrow?”

“You’re staying the night?” Mitchell raised an eyebrow that turned Connor back into a blushing mess. Which was one of Mitchell’s favorite version of Connor, a version that was only rivaled by Seductive Connor. A Connor that flirted with anything that moved, and had (apparently) singlehandedly gotten both himself, and Travis laid. Though he’d never actually heard the story behind that (he was sure he could get the story out of Travis if they ever met) but he could wholeheartedly believe it.

“If you want me too I will.” Had Mitchell had the brainpower to really think through what was currently happening, he’d probably have realized how badly it all could’ve ended. One wrong move and it was entirely possible that he would scare off Connor for good.

Of course, Mitchell didn’t have the brainpower in that moment to truly process everything that was happening. So, he asked Connor to stay.

Next Morning Mitchell however did have the brainpower to realize and internally freak out about how badly the night before could’ve gone. He could’ve completely fucked up his and Connor’s relationship! Even if they didn’t end up boyfriends, they were still friends, and Mitchell couldn’t lose him.

He woke up to a mouthful of hair and a comfortable weight on top of him. His arms had wound themselves around whatever was laying on him, and they were hesitant to let go. A small part of Mitchell didn’t realize who was laying on top of him, but a helpful memory from the night before told him that the weight on top of him was Connor Stoll, and Connor Stoll had almost kissed him, multiple times.

Flailing around like a maniac and then falling off his bed wasn’t the way he’d planned on walking Connor up, but it was what happened.

“What the hell- Mitchell are you alright?” Connor peered over the side of the bed. His hair was messier than Mitchell had ever seen it but somehow, he was still utterly adorable. Something that Mitchell was absolutely positive that he wasn’t.

If anything, he had raccoon eyes and lipstick smeared absolutely all over his face. The night before he’d been too tired to get out of bed and wash his face. Connor was an excellent cuddler and that fact alone was enough to convince his body to fall asleep.

“Yeah, I’m alright. Mostly, okay, so uh, maybe not entirely okay but most of me is decent.” He replied, though a sandal was wedged uncomfortably in his back, which wasn’t helping at all. And the swirling thoughts of the night before had returned, though this time they were slower. A bit more manageable.

“I might need some coffee though, before we actually talk about everything that happened.” He announced pushing himself up and popping his back. Connor hummed in agreement, not following Mitchell’s lead by getting up. Instead he curled back up in Mitchell’s bed and watched him get dressed.

Mitchell grabbed a makeup wipe and began scrubbing away at his raccoon markings. It took several minutes but he finally got all the makeup off. Throwing his makeup wipe in his trashcan that really needed to be thrown away. Granted, his entire room really needed to be cleaned up, something he wasn’t going to do anytime soon.

He spent a minute staring at his pajamas before deciding that if he was going to have this difficult conversation, then he was going to be comfortable while doing it. When he turned back to Connor he was sitting up on Mitchell’s bed, tying his shoes and essentially ready to go.

“On campus or off-campus?” Connor asked standing up and handing Mitchell his tennis shoes.

He thought about their on-campus options (two student run coffee carts that ventured too far away from his dorm for his liking) and their off-campus options (a Starbucks with angsty workers, and a family owned café that gave him weird looks every time he walked in). None of them were too appealing, but the thought of running into Warner or Vivian was horrifying.

“Starbucks?” He asked smiling up at Connor, who rolled his eyes fondly. It was an exchange they’d had dozens of times now, though neither of them complained. Now that he was pretty sure Connor had feelings for him, he couldn’t help the giddy feeling that this would probably happen again.

They would stay up late studying for some test and Mitchell would wake up with a textbook page practically glued to his face. Connor on the other hand would complain about the fact they’d stayed up so late on a weekend, when neither of them had classes. Then they would go and get breakfast, probably from the cafeteria, and sneak it back into Mitchell’s room. From there they would continue to study until they would inevitably get distracted by one another.

The idea that he could be domestic with Connor had his heart pounding and his head racing with fantasies. He’d never been the type to want to ‘play the field’. He wanted the commitment, the consistency, the domesticity that came with loving and wanting to be with someone forever.

“Earth to Mitchell.” Connor jokingly called out, he was standing by Mitchell’s door. One hand on the knob, and the other messing with his phone. He didn’t remember throwing either one of their phone’s onto chargers but when he reached to his nightstand, his phone had been plugged in. Revealing a monstrous amount of texts from his siblings. “Are you coming? Or am I going to walk all the way to Starbucks and then walk back?”

Mitchell wouldn’t lie, the idea was incredibly tempting.

“Yes.” He replied with the straightest face he’d ever pulled in his life. Which was saying a lot, because high school had been four solid years of acting.

“You’re a dick.” Connor laughed and Mitchell rolled his eyes. Barely holding in the ‘and you apparently want this dick’ joke that was threatening to escape. Now was not the time to make dick jokes, unfortunately.

The walk to the Starbucks was a relatively quiet one. Both of them, lost in their own thoughts, phrasing the words they needed to get out. Their hands brushed once, then twice, and on the third time around Mitchell caught Connor’s hand and intertwined their fingers. He didn’t glance over, he couldn’t, part of him was terrified that this was all some sort of fever dream. That he would wake up and be alone and flunking out of Harvard.

But then they walked into the Starbucks, and Connor went up to get their drinks, while Mitchell left to save them a table. He sat them near the back, he wasn’t entirely sure if Connor wanted to be in a relationship. And if he didn’t, then at the very least he would be able to cry in a more private place.

Several minutes (and one scratched escape plan later) Connor was sitting across from him with a Pumpkin Spice Latte and a black coffee. He handed over Mitchell’s coffee that Connor always made fun of.

“I still can’t believe you don’t put anything in your coffee.” Connor sipped his latte and eyed Mitchell’s coffee like it was the worst thing he’d ever seen. This was something Mitchell was used to so he only rolled his eyes in response.

“And I still can’t believe you’re really into coffee that has that much sugar in it.” The thought of drinking that much sugar made his stomach ache in sympathy. Sure, his diet wasn’t the best, but at least he didn’t drink sugar like Connor or Katie did. He’d have to teach them how to eat stuff that didn’t come out of a microwavable package.

Their conversation died and Mitchell was stuck with the thoughts in his head. How were you supposed to start a conversation like this? Did you just state what you thought the facts were? Was he supposed to admit his feelings and hope that Connor returned those feelings? Or maybe he should just wait for Connor to speak first, he was the one who’d actually asked to kiss him.

“So-” Connor said at the same time Mitchell said. “I-”

They stared at one another for a second before Connor started laughing. The worry in Mitchell’s stomach began to melt away as he joined in. Besides, this was _Connor_ he was thinking about. He was sweet, and funny, and would never do anything to hurt him.

“You can go first.” Mitchell replied once they’d finished laughing. Connor nodded and took a deep breath, before locking eyes with Mitchell.

“I don’t think we should date.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I definitely didn't mean to wait over a month to post another chapter, but life and school got really fucking busy and so I had to prioritize, which unfortunately updating and writing took a backseat to failing my classes. Thank you all for being patient, I hope to get some major writing done over break so that I have a couple chapters in the reserves so I don't go on a hiatus like this again! Thank you for reading!


	12. I Want You Whipped Into Shape!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor, sweet, amazing, incredible, impossibly adorable Connor. Who was looking at Mitchell like he was insane. Which, in all fairness, probably wasn't too far off from the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not in fact dead! I would like to apologize for the abrupt hiatus. School and work and life got crazy leaving me almost no time to work on anything. I'm hoping that after finals I'll be able to move back to a more regular update schedule, especially since the fic has finally moved closer and closer to it's ending. 
> 
> Thank you all so much for not abandoning this fic, and thank you so much for your patience. I hope you enjoy!

            The meeting room was nearly ice cold. From the corner of his eye Mitchell saw both Katie and Vivian rubbing at their legs. Neither of them had worn a pantsuit (mostly because the last girl to wear a pantsuit in front of Callahan had left the classroom in tears) and there wasn’t a way to turn up the heat.

            Katie was sitting on his left and Vivian on his right. They’d all arrived at nearly the same time, taking what they deemed the ‘best’ seats. Throughout their wait for Callahan Mitchell had seen glimpses of Connor. Walking past the glass wall that separated the meeting room from the hallway, holding papers that really needed to be paperclipped together, and looking absolutely gorgeous in his suit.

            “Didn’t Callahan tell us to be here at 8 o’clock sharp?” Vivian snapped, bouncing her leg so hard that Mitchell was somewhat worried that her heel would snap. Though, he was just as annoyed as her, and understood her frustration.

            The email had explicitly stated they were to meet at 8 A.M. sharp in this meeting room. And had warned that he wasn’t against locking them out if they were late.

            “He did.” Katie agreed, leaning against her seat like it was the only thing keeping her upright. She’d planned to visit her family this week, as most of her classes had finished finals early. Now she was stuck in ‘Real People Clothes’ as she liked to call them, for the rest of the week.

            Mitchell found himself glancing down at his watch. It wasn’t a functioning watch, but it matched his outfit (which was sadly the least colorful thing he owned). Connor had suggested he wear a black suit, and his argument had been upsettingly solid, and incredibly hot. Something that Mitchell decided he would and could complain about when given the opportunity.

            “So why isn’t he-” She was interrupted by Callahan slamming the door open, something Mitchell had guessed wasn’t possible in this room. Entering behind him was Warner, holding a Starbucks cup and wearing his signature hangover sunglasses. When he glanced over at Vivian she just turned her head away from him, staring down at the legal pad in front of her.

            Which was… interesting.

            “I apologize for my lateness, but it appears that Mr. Trouble in Paradise needs to learn how to drive.” Callahan set down a briefcase on the table before sending a LookTM in Warner’s direction. He ducked into a seat and set down his coffee, pulling a wrinkled note pad out of his own briefcase. “Now, who is aware of the case already?”

            They all raised their hands. Callahan nodded approvingly before turning to a projector on the other side of the room. He moved to turn it on and reached over to grab a remote. While he was messing with the remote, Connor entered the room and sat on the other side of Katie.

            Which wasn’t as weird as Mitchell expected it to be. None of this was, granted when the boy you like tells you that you can’t be public about your relationship, most of the time it’s a different sort of weird.

            And he’d dealt with _that_ kind of weird multiple times before.

            Katie glanced between the two of them, a frown on her face. He watched her glare over at himself before slapping Connor’s shoulder. The two of them exchanged furious whispers as Callahan turned on a very familiar video.

            “Hello my family! This week I would like to introduce you to our newest contributor! Introducing the new face of Love Cosmetics. Would you like to introduce yourself sweetheart?” Aphrodite asked, and off screen someone sucked in a breath. Mitchell had watched this video nearly a hundred times since she’d posted it.

            Aphrodite had run her YouTube channel since nearly the beginning of YouTube. Most people had been theorizing about when she was going to hand her channel over to someone else. The video had been posted earlier that year, Mitchell had cried the entire first time he’d watched it. A whole month had been dedicated to Aphrodite and Delta Nu had even trended on Twitter.

            The girl next to Aphrodite had her hair pulled back into two galaxy buns and golden highlighter that nearly matches her golden eyes. Harmonia was the daughter of Aphrodite and a military man that had apparently died a few years before Aphrodite had started her channel.

            Her hair is much shorter in this video than in more recent posts. She’d gotten extensions and box braids a couple months back. Of course, she rocked them, there was hardly anything Aphrodite or Harmonia couldn’t pull off. Though both of them were rather humble about

it and chalked up their beauty to being comfortable in their own skins.

            “Hi! I’m Harmonia, and starting today, I’m not only going to be the face of Love Cosmetics, but also the face of my mom’s YouTube channel!” She threw up her hands and Callahan stopped the video. Both Aphrodite and Harmonia look happy, thrilled even, it’s a particularly good frame for Callahan to have stopped on.

            “Our client is Aphrodite, she has been accused of poisoning her only daughter Harmonia. Harmonia is currently in a coma, and her fiancé is at her bedside, praying that her future wife will wake up soon. Our job is to prove that Aphrodite didn’t do it.” He announces, and Mitchell is a little thrown by his conviction. As if he was trying to prove it to himself that Aphrodite was innocent, and not just the jury.

            “Is she guilty?” Vivian asked from his right, and when Mitchell turned to look at her, she looked. Well, not sad, but something akin to it, disappointed maybe, or grieving the lose of someone she didn’t know?

            “That’s up to you to decide for yourself.” He answered, before changing the video. Some explosions sounded on screen before fading into the Love Cosmetics intro. The video was one he’d watched while Lacy was on a ‘I’m powerful and will kick your ass’ kick.

            Aphrodite had a series of work out and self-defense videos on her channel to encourage her viewers to better themselves. She was clearly much more advanced than her videos showed. Openly discussing her own frustrations and failures when she was just beginning her training.

            This video of course didn’t prove anything about whether she would poison her daughter or not, but it did prove that she wasn’t all talk. When she committed to doing something, she committed completely. And judging by the others watching the video, that was enough to convince them one way or another.

            He paused the video halfway through, and he heard a noise of protest from Vivian. Resulting in both Warner and Callahan looking over at her expectantly. A blush was rising up her neck though she maintained her composure and raised an eyebrow at their looks. “What? I wasn’t done assessing her capabilities to see if she would be more or less likely to use a physical means of assaulting someone.”

            Which was a reasonable response, at least to Mitchell. Warner on the other hand just frowned and rolled his eyes like she was being ridiculous. Though Callahan agreed, no one but Vivian paid much attention to the moves that Aphrodite was demonstrating. Katie and Connor had started an intense game of thumb wrestling under the table while Warner switched between staring at Vivian and glaring down at his phone like it’d personally offended him.

            It took a couple of seconds before he recognized that as Warner being frustrated. It was strange, not knowing Warner as well as he had just a few months ago. Granted, a lot had changed in those couple of months since they’d broken up. He was slowly forgetting what loving Warner was like.

            It wasn’t as scary as he’d first imagined it being. It wasn’t dramatic or intense or as life altering as his parents had made it seem. Granted, his parents were nothing if lovers of the dramatic and intense and life altering. The process was as simple and slow as vaguely remembering what it was like to go to school on Valentine’s day. Each day the memories slowly faded as more important ones replaced them, getting fuzzier the less they were examined.

            A glance over to Connor confirmed that the feelings in his chest for Warner were fading. They weren’t completely gone, and he imagined they never would be. You didn’t just love someone and then completely forget about them, no matter how long it’d been. But now he was able to acknowledge that their relationship hadn’t been the perfect fairytale they’d pretended it was.

            “What’re you so smiley about?” Vivian asked quietly, a couple of weeks ago he would’ve said that it’d come off snarky, no matter how she’d said it, but now? Now he could see the curiosity in her eyes, and the way she was frowning like she didn’t completely understand was happening

            “I’ve got a date tonight.” He answered, which wasn’t a lie. While he and Connor had agreed that being public with their relationship wasn’t the best idea at the moment, that didn’t mean they couldn’t go out with Katie and Travis just to ‘hang out’.

            Her face shifted into something more neutral before she had the chance to give away too much emotion. Though, if he had to guess, he’d say that she was surprised he was dating, and was probably expecting him to make some kind of move on Warner while she wasn’t looking.

            He gives himself a minute to feel proud of that before forcing himself to remember that her reaction wasn’t exactly a good thing. He’d set out to be ‘The Other Man’ and steal Warner back. Vivian didn’t have any reason to trust that his intentions had changed, even when he texted them both congratulations on their engagement.

            By all means Vivian should hate him, and the mere fact that they could be in the same room without her constantly glaring at him was a miracle.

            “Oh, I- hope you have fun.” The smile on her face looks genuine enough that he knows she’s being serious. This apparently catches Warner’s attention because as Aphrodite demonstrates how to defend oneself when being attacked from behind, he turns to them.

            “What’re you two talking about?” He asks glancing between them like they were conspiring against him. Vivian’s smile disappeared immediately, and she began to mess with the legal pad and pen in front of her.

            “I have a date tonight.” He answered after a couple seconds of near silence. The sentence settled in between them like a physical barrier, an expression akin to shock passed over Warner’s face.

            “Oh, really? With who?” Vivian’s head didn’t whip towards either Warner or Mitchell. She didn’t make a sound of surprise at Warner’s sudden interest in Mitchell’s love life or the fact he’d just inserted himself into their conversation. Instead she pulled out her phone and sent off a quick text that he didn’t see.

            “As interesting as I find all of your Freshman drama, we do have a job to do. We’re heading over to the Women’s Penitentiary, I’ve sent the address to the numbers you provided when you applied for the internship. Now, as I don’t trust Warner to drive himself, I’ll take on the responsibility of transporting him and Miss Kensington to the Penitentiary, Connor I assume you can handle getting Miss Gardiner and Mr. Woods there safely?” Connor shook his head quickly, but Mitchell wasn’t paying too much attention to Connor. Instead he was distracted by Vivian trying and failing to keep her facial features stoic.

Warner was smiling and glancing over to Vivian like this was the best thing that could’ve happened to him. He couldn’t put his finger on why, but his stomach turned painfully when he imagined Vivian together in a car with Warner. That feeling was made ten times worse with the way Warner was smiling like he’d just won a bet he thought he was sure to lose.

“Callahan, you drive a convertible, don’t you?” He asked, glancing quickly between Connor and Katie, mouthing a quick ‘Sorry’. Callahan turned to give Mitchell an appreciative look, it was probably one of the first times Callahan had ever looked at him with something other than disappointment.

“I do.”

“Well, if you want, I’m sure Connor can take Vivian with us. I mean it’ll probably be much too crowded for all of you in there.” He could practically feel Katie’s glare burning through his suit jacket. She disliked Vivian almost as much as Mitchell did, or he supposed his hatred for Vivian had died down, or else he would’ve never suggested something like this.

Callahan glanced at Vivian, and then to Warner before moving it back to Mitchell.

“I suppose that will work, Connor?” His gaze moved to Connor. Poor, sweet, amazing, incredible, impossibly adorable Connor. Who was looking at Mitchell like he was insane. Which, in all fairness, probably wasn’t too far off from the truth. But...

But he couldn’t help the nasty feeling in his stomach. He couldn’t help but analyze how Vivian didn’t show up with Warner, how she’s not wearing the engagement ring that he knows she owns. Couldn’t help but recognize the reluctance in her face at going with them.

            He shot Connor a pleading look, one that he hoped Connor wouldn’t be able to resist, so that he would agree to this sort of stupid and insane idea. Granted Connor had also agreed to be his secret boyfriend until they could officially come out as a couple. So he was already further into Mitchell’s crazy ideas than most people were.

            “Yeah, I can do that.”


End file.
